It was early... no, I mean EARLY when I had to roust two sleeping tofu-bunnies out of their crib and criblet to catch our 06:25 flight out of Narita. We had a long flight ahead of us to get to Singapore to see Daddy. Only for Daddy!
Maggie's stroller was a comfort to her, though. We are out of the house so much (usually by Maggie's own preference), that it has become a second home. She eats, sleeps and observes the world from her red stroller. It had become so full of ground up snacks and bits of rice and spilled juices, in fact, that while Maggie was at school Arthur and I gave it two scrub-downs and a day in the sun before starting out on our adventure.
So there we were all dreary-eyed at the check-in counter for Jetstar Airways checking our barely-in-weight-limits 25 kg suitcase on the scale (that we had paid for ahead of time), when the impeccably coiffed and made-up attendant asked me "And how about the stroller?" What about the stroller? It's going with us. "You cannot take your stroller to the gate. We have to check it."
Oh, no way. Having air-traveled via Haneda where you can't take a personal stroller through the gate, I had foreseen this possibility and chatted online with Jetstar staff the day before on the subject of strollers at Narita. 'Michael' of jetstar.com had said we could take our stroller to the gate. 'Megumi' dutifully nodded her head and stepped into the back. I'm sure she spoke to no one behind the door, probably just checked her hair and watched a viral video someone shared with her. She knew the drill, though. When she came back, she had on her best bowed head and defeated pout. "So sorry. Call-center misinformation. So sorry. So sorry."
I knew the drill, too. We had already paid for 25 kg of checked luggage, and I had carefully packed all three of us for the next month and a half... (They say all it takes is diapers and love. Well, that's a whole lotta love.) Anyway, we weren't about to pay for more. I feigned horror. What do you want me to do? Are you going to give me a stroller to use at the airport? (They gave me an airport stroller at Haneda.) You're not going to make me pay for this, too? "I'm sorry. It's Narita rule. No strollers. So sorry! No, you don't have to pay." And all of this carry-on luggage attached to the stroller? "It's okay."
Maggie, however, did not know this drill. Nor did she have to 'feign' upset as I took her out of the stroller and folded it up. She made quite the scene as poor Megumi tried as peacefully as possible to place the stroller on the scale. Binky in mouth and bottle in hand, Maggie threw all 25 pounds of her bed-headed, pink stripey pajama clad existence into rescuing her stroller from the clutches of the airline. Even though she failed to get her stroller back, at least she succeeded in making the airline and airport own up to its cruelty.
Well, we are in Singapore now with Daddy who put us up at the nicest, most family-friendly resort in Singapore. Maggie seems to have forgotten the stroller incident for now. Sorry there are no pics, but I accidentally left my iPhone. We are working hard to rectify this situation, but for now thousands of words will have to do!
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