Date: 7/1/02
Author: Dallas Friday

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When Every Day is Friday: The Dallas Friday Interview

Dallas Friday (Pic: Richmond Gibbs)

Dallas Friday checking in from Indiana. I am at the pro tour stop for men only in Indianapolis. I had signed up to challenge the men at this stop but because of my back I was not able to ride. If you have never seen a wakeboarding tournament in person you are missing out! These guys are good. They go huge and throw some pretty incredible stuff. It was a fun event.

I am flying home tomorrow. It will be my second time flying alone. My dad usually always travels with me because my parents don't like for me to travel alone. I hope I make my connection OK in Atlanta on my way home. I say that because my first time flying alone was an unreal story.

The day after Christmas last year I was going to Steamboat Springs, Colorado for my first snowboarding trip. I was meeting a friend and his family out there to stay for the week. I had to connect in Houston to get to Steamboat. I got to Houston and my mom drilled in me before I left to make sure I ask that I am on the right connecting flight. So when I got to my connecting plane I said to the ticket taker, "I am on the right flight, right?" The man said, "Yes Miss Friday. Seat 22F."

I got to my seat and the man next to me kept saying stuff like, "I hear the weather is great there this time of year." I was thinking to myself, What is this guy talking about? I knew it was freezing and snowy in Steamboat. They shut the door to the plane and we were getting ready to taxi out when a man came up to me and said, "I think you are in my seat." I told him I did not think so. The flight attendant came and took our tickets and went to the front of the plane. She said it was probably just an error in overbooking that seat.

The next thing I hear is, "Dallas Friday to the front of the plane." I thought what is going on? The flight attendant then told me I was on the wrong flight; I was on the plane going to Puerto Vallarta. She said if they had left and realized I was on the flight they would have had to turn the plane around and come back to the airport. They opened back up the plane door and I went to the lady from the airlines and told her what had happened. She then said you need to be in this line over here and took me there. I waited in line and when I got up to the ticket taker I asked the man if I was on the right flight and he said no this plane is going to Orange County. I couldn't believe it.

In the meantime my real flight left. I went to the customer service counter and told the lady I was sent to the wrong plane twice. She said that there were no more flights out that day, that I would have to stay in the airport overnight and pay an additional $1,000. because there was only one seat left in first class. She was not being nice at all. Luckily I had my cell phone with me and called my mom in Orlando. I told her what the lady told me and my mom asked to speak to the customer service lady. The lady then told me she was not allowed to speak to anyone about my travel arrangements. I told my mom what she had said and my mom told me to tell her that I was a minor and she wanted to talk to the lady. As soon as I told the lady I was a minor she was like what??? How old are you? And I said 15. She instantly got nice and they found me a flight out on another airline. They brought a golf cart and took me where I needed to be in the airport and escorted me the rest of the time. I felt like a little kid but I didn't care because I was going to get to my destination without having to spend the night in the airport and pay the thousand dollars. You would have thought with all the airport security that I would not have even been able to board a plane without a passport going to a different country. My coach wanted to call all the news stations to let them know they almost sent a 15-year-old girl out of the country.

We laughed about it later, though it was not funny at the time. My dad called me on the slopes at Steamboat and told me to be sure I didn't get on the lift that goes to Vail... HA!

~Dallas

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