The hundreds of hours spent on executing the sort of event  that takes a year of  planning–a dream wedding, a roller derby tournament, or I don’t know . . . a chartered cruise with 2500 + paying guests and 25 + bands and artists–includes so many moving parts that no number of phone calls, brain storming sessions, or emails can hold off the inevitable. Something will go wrong.  The car carrying your wedding cake might crash on the way to the reception. Your star skater might break her foot while dancing the week before the tournament. Your ship may miss it’s port of call due to a little wind. It’s the unexpected and uncontrollable moments that make me question my sanity in being a part of a team that puts together multiple events where so much could go wrong but it’s the way we respond to those times when things do go wrong that makes me love my job.

Rewind to a little over two weeks ago and the adventures of 1 gringa and six 25lb boxes.

Saturday, January 31st 6:00pm

I put on an extra pair of socks and actually consider adding a jacket on top of my Sixthman sweatshirt as I leave our hotel for the Ships and Dip pre-party. With the windchill, it’s 45 degrees in Miami. Too bad I’m not Canadian, if I was I’d probably consider wearing my swimsuit. As it stands I’m a Southern girl, and I’m freezing my ass off in South Florida. A week prior at the same hotel, rain moved Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers away from our idyllic bay side patio locale into a stuffy hotel ballroom during The Rock Boat pre-party. We prevailed that night and the skies look clear tonight so I suck it up, slap on a radio and a smile and go to greet my old friends and meet some new ones. I’ve been a part of the planning team for Ships and Dip for almost a year and I’m looking forward getting on the ship tomorrow. I see Lauren on the phone on my way in, she looks worried.

10:00pm

That was fun! Back into the van and back to our hotel where the rest of Camp Sixthman  is waiting to have a quick meeting and then get some much needed rest before our big day. While waiting for the van Andy tells me that the programs are not in Miami, due to a mix up with FedEx, they are still in Atlanta. Then he tells me I’m fired. Then he puts his hand on my shoulder and laughs his ass off. Wow, Andy is hilarious.

Sunday, February 1st 3am

That was weird. I just threw-up. I feel better now, must have been something I ate.

5am

That sucked.  I just threw-up again. I just need to go back to sleep.

8am

Somebody kill me. I am going to die.

8:15am

I tell Lisa (my roommate) to call someone. I don’t think I’m going to make my 8:20 lobby call.

3:00pm

I finally come to terms with the fact that I will not be getting on the ship.

Monday February 2nd 4:00pm

I’ve been feeling 100% better all day, like a real live human being. Laura Mac has already booked me a flight to Cancun and the hotel has instructions to call me as soon as the boxes containing our Ships and Dip V programs arrive. A plan to have Sonia meet me in Cancun with a dolly (not a cute dolly in a dress but a metal one with wheels to pull the boxes) so that we can take a cab together to Playa del Carmen and then a ferry to Cozumel where the dippers are awaiting us on the Norwegian Jewel.

5:00pm

This is not good. The boxes never showed up at the hotel. Time for some detective work!

5:10pm

The boxes have been marked “return to sender” and might be on their way BACK TO ATLANTA. WTF?

5:15pm

Our programs have been labeled “To Destroy” by FedEX. WTF x 1,000.

5:20pm

Our dangerous pamphlets have not been destroyed and are actually in a warehouse in Miami. I have 40 minutes to get there before they close.

7:00pm

Whew! I got them. I’ve now begun to become highly suspicious that FedEx is actually a branch of the CIA. Now on to a lovely dinner and some quality time with my Miami dwelling Aunt.

Tueday, February 3rd 8:00am

I settle into my seat on Air Mexicana and get nervous as I realize that the only other people on the plane who do not appear to speak Spanish are speaking to each other in sign language. Good news: they serve ham sandwiches and cookies for breakfast on Air Mexicana! Bad news: I just realized that I am flying to another country with $12 USD in my pocket.

9:00am (Mexico time)

The customs official tells me that to get my boxes into Mexico the tax will be $18.35 USD, cash only. I smile and hand him my $12 and pray to the Virgin Mary that I don’t end up in a Mexican prison.

9:45am

Two body searches later I am on my way out of the airport when a porter with a luggage cart insists on transferring my boxes to his cart and wheeling them out for me. I tell him that I have no money. Fortunatey, he speaks English. Unfortunately, he smiles and says “It’s okay, I work for tips.”  I tell him again that I have no money and would rather carry my own boxes out, but he doesn’t seem to believe me until we are all the way outside and I throw my arms in the air and say “I’m sorry! No money!” And thusly ends the story of how a 70 year old Mexican man ate my soul with his eyes and then left me with 6 25lb boxes and no luggage cart in an obscure location outside of the Cancun airport.

11:00am

The taxi stand guys feel bad for me and keep on trying to get me to call someone on their cell phones. This is when I realize that I have no way of getting in touch with anyone and if Sonia never shows up, I have no back up plan.

12:15pm

If Sonia doesn’t show up by 1:00 I’m leaving the boxes, learning Spanish, changing my name to Josefina Garcia and settling into my new life on the streets of Cancun.

12:20pm

I spot Sonia 200 ft away, dragging a dolly, looking like an angel dropped from heaven. She’s been looking for me for 20 minutes.

1:30pm

After 48 hours of not upchucking, the ferry ride to Cozumel almost gets the best of me (and Sonia). At one point, I swear to God I am looking straight down into the ocean from my bench seat, that is how much that boat was a rocking.

2:00pm

Sonia arrives with her precious cargo at the Jewel: Joy and 3,000 programs. Mission accomplished. I work my first Info Desk shift 2 hours later and am soon telling my tale to anyone who asks why they are getting programs two and a half days into the cruise.

–Joy a.k.a. Josefina Garcia

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 19th, 2009 at 12:28 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.