The Louisville beginning of the UN CSW59 adventure....

-->

March 6, 2015

Friends,

For three days now I have been trying to get from Louisville, KY to NYC for the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).  I am hoping and praying that the third try is the charm.  So here I am at the Louisville Airport at 4:45 a.m., having been picked up by a taxi at just after 3:30 a.m.  I’ve checked my bag, been through security, bought bottled water and Diet Coke, my cold caffeine.  Now I am sitting in front of a TV screen that is showing CNN and beginning my reflections on the experience I am beginning as I participate in the CSW in NYC.

Debbie Journey Continues.

My attempts began on Wednesday as my first flight was cancelled and I waited at the airport for a late afternoon flight that continued to be bumped back.  I admit that I gave up on that one after the third time change.  It turns out that it did fly, but it appeared to me at the time that it would be cancelled. 

Thursday I actually made it into the plane and we were almost ready to taxi out to the runway when the word came that a Delta flight had gone off the runway at LaGuardia, closing the airport in NYC to incoming traffic.  We were taken back to the gate and in due time the flight was cancelled.  The late afternoon flight was cancelled as well, LaGuardia was said to be closed until 7:00 p.m. at night and conditions were worsening there.

So today I am again at the airport hoping that this very early morning flight takes off.  If it does not I will have to try to catch a later flight today or even go tomorrow.  If this early morning one is not successful I will end up missing some or all of the Presbyterian Orientation that begins today.

Yesterday as I learned that I would not be able to get out of Louisville until the next day, today, I headed out to the cab/taxi coordination booth at the airport.  I was able to quickly get a cab and get home.  Before the cab came I found myself upset because of the condition of the teeth of the coordinator.  He was missing so many of his teeth, at least in the front, that there were only one or two on either side of his mouth.

I have noticed this over time with people who work in low paying service jobs in this country (USA).  I found it distressing that all people in this country are not cared for in the ways that all human beings should be.  The health of the mouth is basic and the mouth is the gateway to the body. 

The taxi driver last night was from Senegal, the one this morning was also from another country, although I did not find out where.  I have noticed that more and more the cab/taxi drivers in the states are men (mostly) from other countries.  What bothers me about this is wondering what occupation they had in their original country.  I have heard that often people who were doctors and teachers, etc., can only find work in the United States that is nothing like what they did before.

Taxi driving is an honorable profession and there are people who love that kind of work.  My bone to pick with it is when there are people who are gifted in other ways and are forced to make a living at something that has nothing to do with the gifts that they should be able to share with the world.  If I had to be a taxi driver somewhere I would be miserable. 

Okay, I am signing off for now and am going to drink my cold water.  Si an ar a.