Cab Driver Saves Dylan!

Despite my usual weird encounters with taxi drivers in the United States, I have been thinking about one in particular lately and would like to officially thank him. 

In 2009, my sister, Dylan and I all lived in San Diego. That year for Thanksgiving we made arrangements to fly home to be with our family. 

Forgetting the health code violations associated with making arrangements for your animal to fly home, I simply brought Dylan with me to the airport the morning of and decided I would purchase a plane ticket for him that day. 

I didn't plan ahead. Shocking.

Dylan has been on an airplane many times in his life. He usually prefers to fly with American Airlines. 

However, this particular trip, we were flying with Southwest Airlines. 

Apparently, Southwest Airlines does not allow dogs to fly or I couldn't get my little prince a ticket the day of. My memory is slightly skewed because of the traumatic incident that soon followed.  

This particular morning of traveling was no different for my sister and I. We were late as usual and desperately trying to make our flight with only 40 minutes until take off. 

After we arrived by cab to the airport, I quickly made my way to the ticket counter to purchase a ticket for my little fur ball. 

It was then that the ticket counter lady advised me Dylan would not be coming home for the holidays with us. What??

She also broke the news that this was the last flight out for the day. 

I was immediately confronted with a moral dilemma. Do I stay with Dylan for the holidays and miss our family dinner? Do I take him home and miss my flight? Do I give him away?? What do I do??

My sister being absolutely no help, made her way to a camera crew for the local news who happen to be at the airport filming the "Holiday Chaos" that was taking place in front of us. 

As my sister fulfilled her dreams of getting on TV, I made the hardest decision of my adult life: Dylan was not coming home for Thanksgiving. :(

I ran outside and flagged the first taxi cab driver I saw. I then put my son in the back of the cab, told the cabby to take him to an address where my roommate was staying, took a picture of his face, his cabby number, my little prince in case I was never going to see him again and handed the cabby a $50 bill. 

After threatening the cabby's life one last time, I began to cry and made my way back into the airport. 

I found my sister exactly where I had left her: still giving the camera crew an interview about how I just put my dog in the back of a cab by himself. 

As I boarded the plane with only minutes to spare, I received a phone call from the Cabby advising me that he would deliver my dog for an extra $1,000. WHAT????

I kid. I kid. Dylan was not held for ransom. However, the Cab driver did inform me that Dylan was safe and sound and in the arms of my roommate.

The moral of the story is:

A) I am a bad mom.

B) Thanksgiving dinner is apparently more important than my dog. 

C) Cab Drivers have Heart.