Despite my paranoia that SkyNet will eventually take over the planet, I have to admit that SkyNet has its merits from time to time, in the present.  In recent travels, the hour change of daylight savings, combined with a slight hangover resulted in me missing a flight outright, to get back to Atlanta, from Charlotte.  No problem, all I had to do was speak to someone, and re-list for the next flight out, bing, bang, boom.

I get to the airport, and since everything is pretty much kiosk-based these days, I have to go to the “special services” desk, since re-listing and outside of conventional circumstances still require human assistance.  There’s an elderly couple being helped ahead of me, so I’m feeling good that I’m not in the 24-persons deep line for the luggage-checking kiosks.  After the first five minutes, with absolutely no progress, I begin to ponder what could possibly be the delay.  I glance up at the couple, and the body language being exhibited by the female is not positive; she is looking off, and shaking her head in agitation.  Hubby appears to be holding an envelope from another airline; I’m guessing that there’s a co-op/affiliate flight swap going on – in other words, not an easy task, and necessitating various checks, steps outside of protocol, and likely authorizations.  The sole employee handling this task looks absolutely none too pleased herself, and it’s written all over her body language.  Sour expression, slight sneer, lethargic body movements, hating the world.

At this point, I realize that I had a choice to make – stay and wait for Grumpquisha De’Grumperton to do her job in a timely manner, and hope for friendly customer service when it’s finally my turn, or remove people out of the equation entirely, get on my phone, and front the cost for a one-way ticket, and then deal with the refund process of my missed flight, from the convenience of my own home, at a later time, but, get a confirmation right then and there, and allow me to get my boarding pass from one of the carry-on only kiosks instead.

Needless to say, I stayed in line, and proceeded to purchase my one-way ticket, hoping that the couple in front of me would finish up before I did.  But when it didn’t, as soon as the confirmation code generated on my phone, I ditched the line, and went to the kiosks, got my boarding pass, and was on my merry way.  Removing humans from the equation altogether made life expediently better, rather than dealing with a disgruntled employee.