Standing By

Anjali squealed excitedly, standing up and looking at the time.  She began to gather up the papers that were scattered around her workspace.

“What's up?” her friend Samantha asked, not looking up from the computer at which she was seated, typing at a furious pace.

“I finished early,” Anjali explained.  “My flight isn't until seven tonight, but now I can try to jump on an earlier flight.”  Anjali and Samantha were university students in Chicago.  It was the last day of the semester, and all of the students were rushing to finish their final projects in the computer lab before heading home for break.

“All right!” Samantha cheered.  “Are you excited?  Eight semesters down and one semester left to go!  Soon we're going to be real adults!”

“I'm excited to be done with the project and excited to be on break,” Anjali answered.  “But if I start thinking about the one semester left thing, I'm going to freak out because I don't know what I'm doing with my life."  She glanced at her watch.  "Luckily, I don't have time to freak out now if I want to make the early flight!”

“Good luck then.  You'd better hurry,” Samantha said.  “Call me when you get home.”  Anjali was from San Francisco, a lovely city, whose only downside was its distance from Chicago.  Unfortunately, she always had to deal with the hassle of flying whenever she wanted to see her family.

“Good luck finishing up.  I'm going to run,” Anjali replied, grabbing all of her luggage and hurrying out of the computer lab.  She headed to the train station and got on the train to the airport.  When she arrived, there was still an hour remaining until the flight.  She ran to the airline counter and waited for someone to come talk to her, catching her breath as she stood.

“Are there any free seats on the early flight to San Francisco?” she asked as soon as someone was within earshot.

“The flight is oversold by several seats, so there is nothing free,” the airline representative answered.

“Well, can you put me on standby then?” Anjali asked.

“Actually, we're not doing standby anymore,” the representative told her in an impatient voice.  At the unexpected answer, Anjali opened her mouth, then closed it again, not knowing what to say.

"W-What do you mean?" she finally stammered.

"I mean that this airline no longer maintains a standby list.  You'll have to get on your scheduled flight.  Have a nice day."  The representative turned away from her with a look of finality.  "Next, please," she called.

“All right, thanks anyway,” Anjali muttered.  She walked away from the desk with a frown.  Pulling out her phone, she dialed a number and sat down on a bench.

“Daddy,” she greeted her father's voice.

“Anjali!  Where are you?” he asked.

“I'm at the airport, Daddy.  I tried to get on an earlier flight, but the woman at the desk says the flight is overbooked and there is no standby list.  Daddy, why is a Wednesday afternoon flight overbooked?  Who is going to San Francisco on a Wednesday in the middle of the day?  That's possibly the least convenient time to go anywhere!”

“That is strange,” her father admitted.  “Don't worry about it though.  Getting frustrated won't do you any good.  Just relax and get something to eat, and wait for your flight.”

“There isn't even time for me to go back into the city and get something to eat,” Anjali grumbled.  “What am I going to do for four hours?  Dance around the airport naked?”