A few weeks ago Phillipe had asked me to work a GMC event taking place on the 14th and 15th. I knew I would be working at the bakery on the 15th, but I agreed to Wednesday. Phillipe asked if I felt comfortable driving between Manhattan, LaGuardia and JFK, and any and all combination of those three places. Like always, I said yes, then quickly googlemaps-ed it to find the best routes.
Tuesday evening I received a color coded chart of airport arrivals. I took note of the times, the airport, the airline, and the company each person worked for. As I arrived at the bottom of the chart I saw the key to the color coding- each driver had a different color. Matt was yellow. John was blue. Jeff was red. Roy was green. Where was my name? Oh, found it! In a white box it said: "Meaghan- Airport Greeter." Uhmmm, excuse me? I would be spending my day as a Wal Mart greeter, standing at the airport.
That evening I received a flurry of text messages and emails from Phillipe regarding the details. I was told to dress nicely. I was asked if I owned an iPad. I was told to meet at 14th Street at 8:30 am. And then I was told to meet at the garage at 8:15 am. I was informed of "super VIPs" and "REALLY SUPER VIPs." I went to sleep that night thinking of what I would wear the next day that would look nice with a blue apron draped over it.
I woke up bright and early the next morning, and headed for the garage, donning a black pencil skirt and peep toe heels. I was looking pretty good.
I was given an iPad, loaded with a GMC slideshow, and headed out to LaGuardia. I parked the car, and then myself, at the Delta terminal. I was over an hour early for the first flight, so naturally, I was harassed by the other drivers. I ignored the comments and continued reading my book and checking the flight status.
When the first flight landed I took position among the scummy drivers with folded and crumpled paper signs and the more advanced whiteboard-around-the-neck signs. I whipped out the iPad, turned on the slideshow, and waited. Another driver joined the crowd a few minutes later, late enough for word of the iPad to have spread through the fraternity of drivers. He came up to me, looked at the screen and said, "oh! I'm GMC." Good one.
The first passenger came off the escalator and locked his eyes on my iPad heading right for me. As he passed me he said smuggly, "well, that's a pretty elaborate sign, don't ya think?"
iPad Comment Count: 2
Eventually my passenger saw the iPad and came towards me. But he wasn't alone. I double checked my color coded chart, and noticed that yes, Roger was supposed to be my only passenger. Roger introduced himself, I did the same, and we shook hands. Then the second man introduced himself. Pat. Oh. No.
Pat told me he had arrived at the airport early and jumped on the flight with Roger. Ahhh! Pat is one of my "REALLY SUPER VIPs!" He wasn't supposed to come in until later. He wasn't supposed to come in until I had at least one practice round of greeting! I texted his driver, the red driver, and sent the two of them off to the hotel. I immediately called Janice, the GM coordinator at the hotel, warning her of their upcoming arrival, and went back to wait with the fraternity.
The next arrival was only one man. He was not a GM employee. He was not a VIP. He was, however, an issue.
I held my iPad, chuckling at the comments people made. One man even took out his iPhone, wrote his girlfriend's name on it, and held that while standing next to me. Ha. Ha.
As the reporter came down the escalator he saw the GMC logo, nodded his acknowledgement at me and headed my way. I shot a quick text to the yellow driver. We introduced ourselves, shook hands, and I asked him to follow me outside. As soon as we began walking the man asked me, "do you know why I am here?"
"Excuse me, I don't think I understand what you are asking."
"Well, the invitation said the event is a secret, so I don't know why I am here. Do you?"
Yes, I know. I know. I know! I probably shouldn't know... Oh my gooodness! This is a secret?! Why did Phillipe forget to mention that detail?! He mentioned every other detail, but this he decides to leave out?!
"Yes, I do know why you are here. But, I'm sorry, sir, I am definitely not at liberty to tell you."
"Oh, come on! I flew all the way here! I'm here already. I'm going to be seeing the surprise in only a few hours, you can tell me."
"I'm sorry, but I would like to keep my job, and therefore, I am going to keep this secret!"
The car pulled up, he got in, I called Janice, and then I took a breath. I was sweating bullets. I walked back into the terminal with my elbows raised, doing my best to keep any pit stains at bay. Gosh, that threw me for a loop.
The next few arrivals went off without a hitch. Yes the iPad commentary continued as well as the questions about the big secret, but I was prepared for all of them.
As my two last LaGuardia flights flashed "Landed" on the arrivals board I gave my drivers a warning text, and assumed the position. Both flights stated "At Gate" when my phone began ringing. It was Phillipe. I hastily answered the phone. Phillipe asked, "has Jeff's passenger arrived?" I told him yes. Phillipe very loudly said an expletive in my ear. But, I'll censor it for you.
"Why? What's wrong?"
"Okay. Listen. Roy isn't going to make it to JFK. We are stuck here doing prep. You have to do the pick up from JFK, but it's four people. Your car isn't big enough. You need to switch cars with Jeff. He only has one passenger, correct?"
"Yes."
I started sweating again.
"This is what you need to do. Call Jeff. Have him park his car. Have him meet you inside. Then...."
"Okay, Phillipe, I got it. Goodbye."
I dialed Jeff's number. It seemed to ring for an eternity. Finally he answered and told me he was in the ready position, directly outside the terminal door. I quickly barked the orders at him, telling him to park his car and meet me inside.
Sweating....
The passengers for Matt's car arrived one by one. When Jeff arrived, I asked him to hold the iPad as I ushered the four passengers outside. I ran back inside, calling Janice mid- sprint. I took the iPad and told Jeff to get my car and pull it around.
His passenger arrived, Jeff pulled the car around, and they were off. I called Janice while I ran for parking lot 5.
By the time I got into the car it was 2:26 pm. The flight at JFK was to land at 3:01.
I left the airport, hoping that my googlemaps study session had worked, and headed for JFK with the iPad on the passenger seat. About ten minutes later, I hit traffic. I blasted the air conditioning, raised my elbows, and hoped that I would make it...
To be continued...
No one's ever beaten the Van Wyck
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