OK. So I arrived in Dallas, and while still on the plane from ABQ, I get a voicemail from American Airlines alerting me that my connecting flight to Newark has been cancelled. They tell me that I need to call to reschedule my flight. I do. They book me for a flight for FRIDAY afternoon.

Are there any other options? They send me outside, pass airport security and back to main ticketing, where I plead my case. All they can offer me is a stand-by flight for 9:35 to Newark the next morning (Tuesday). Better than Friday…so I was excited.

I spent hours fucking around online and 1am saw an exodus of people walking past me. By exodus, I mean, maybe 10. But at 1am, in an airport, that’s a lot of people. I see that the gate ticket center nearby appears open, as customers are standing there, also pleading for assistance. I check the flights that are due to depart and see that there are earlier flights that I’m hoping I can switch to.

I tell the counter lady my problem. And she laughs. “These morning flights to Newark have been cancelled.” Wait? What? Tomorrow? Today? Tuesday? “Yes.”

I just need to get home, I tell her…..it doesn’t matter. JFK. LaGuardia. Newark. Whatever. But soon. Not Friday. She says, “give me your ticket.” I give her some document, it’s not the right one, and she says “hurry up.” Apparently, she’s found something……but needs to rush to secure it for me.

After a few minutes of typing and clicking and my sweating and gulping, she says, “Dalls to Boston, then Boston to JFK.” Boards at 5:50 am.

Thank you! Thank you! Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukah. Happy New Year. She smiles. Prints out my tickets and gives me the spiel about gates and boarding times.

Suffice to say I am on a flight - BOOKED - for early this morning….to fly to Boston to fly to New York….to just get home.

Now that’s a Christmas gift worth writing about.