I am a total nerd

Here's one for the category of "everything happens for a reason." Yesterday, I left the office at 6pm for my 7:30pm flight out of DCA. The new office in Rosslyn is only about 15 minutes away from the airport, so that's a little on the early side, but I'd left my jacket at the salad place earlier in the day when I went for a little snack, and I had to grab that. I caught a taxi at 6:10, thinking I'd have time to get a sandwich or something to supplement whatever snack they served on the plane.

I didn't notice that the cab was a DC cab, and I don't know if that even played a part in it, but when the road forked, instead of taking the GW Parkway, the cab driver decided to take the Roosevelt Bridge into DC. (DC cabs aren't allowed to pick up AND drop off fares in Virginia, so this might have been a way for him to bend the rules instead of breaking them.) What my taxi driver forgot was that because of rush hour, all of the roads and exits that he wanted to take were closed.

We ended up driving past the Kennedy Center, being forced onto Rock Creek Parkway, and exiting Massachusetts Avenue and driving through Dupont. We drove past the old building at 2000 Penn, and then took 17th Street all the way down to whatever street goes past the Jefferson Memorial and then took 395 to the GW Parkway exit to go to the airport. Yes, the same GW Parkway he had rejected 25 minutes earlier.

He finally got me to the airport at 6:40, and because he was so frustrated and tense during the drive, I didn't say anything to him about my frustration and tension. He apologized when we got there and only charged me what it would have cost to take the direct route.

That's good fun in and of itself, but for me, it got better. I got my boarding pass and went to the security line, where I used my FlyClear card for the first time. FlyClear allows me to go to a special line where I can go faster than the regular line or even the frequent flyer line. What I didn't realize is that once I get my fingerprint scanned, one of the FlyClear employees will cut me into the regular line, give my boarding pass and license to get checked by TSA, and while that's happening, get my bins set up for me so I can cut into the x-ray line as well. It's AWESOME!

This is the best part, though. Because I was running a little late, I jumped on the moving sidewalk to the Continental gates, and I noticed that a gentleman who looked a lot like Larry Kellner, the Chairman and CEO of Continental Airlines, was on the moving sidewalk going the opposite direction. His head was down, and he looked kind of tired, so I couldn't tell for sure. I noted he was wearing a Continental employee badge around his neck, and as I got closer, I saw that the first name said "Larry." So as the sidewalk moved me away, over my shoulder I yelled out, "Thank you for not merging with United!" His head popped up, it was DEFINITELY Larry Kellner, and he started laughing and yelled back, "Thank you for your business."

It totally made my evening. And that's reason number 4,578,932 that I am a nerd.