Stuck in Detroit

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My flight from London Heathrow was delayed by about three hours, so I missed my connecting flight in Detroit. Now, I'm stuck here, trying to stay calm because I just want to go home! The wind is so freakin' cold, it practically burns my skin.

I'm sitting in a huge van, a shuttle that's taking me to a Best Western down the road. The airlines is putting me up in a hotel for the night. To my right is a good-looking college-age guy....

I'd seen him in the airport in London, with his backwards baseball cap, cargo pants, and white t-shirt. He looked like a frat boy who was the star on the wrestling team in high school. That's an American boy, right there! I thought, as he strutted by. They don't make 'em like that in Europe.

How We Do It

Although this is a normal American hotel, it seems HUGE to me! The lobby has couches, coffee tables, and two different restaurants/bars (which are also huge). Inside the actual hotel is a big fountain, pool, and hot tub. It's so spacious and high-ceilinged, I look up, smiling like, Heck yes.

I can't wait to get to my room. I'm so exhausted and hungry. I plan on throwing down my bags, running down to a hotel restaurant to order some carry-out, then changing into my P.J.'s, crawling into bed and eating while I watch some good, American TV! Ooo, I can't wait!

An older American couple is coming up the elevator at the same time as me. We chat and laugh and I help them find their room. None of that would have happened in the UK. We would have stood on the elevator ignoring each other, because that's how people are there. I'm glad to be home. Even the air feels different.

I open the door to my room and pull my luggage inside as the door slams behind me.

Silence. Peace. Stillness. Darkness.

Walking forward, I turn on the light. The room is freaking HUGE!! Bigger than three rooms in my current house. King sized bed. Massive bathroom with a long countertop. A closet! Neither my friends nor I have closets; we have wardrobes. And this closet is twice the size of my wardrobe. Iron, ironing board, built-in hairdryer in the bathroom, a table/desk, an entertainment center with a gigantic TV. It's your typical $38 hotel room in the United States, but this room would cost a fortune in Europe.

As I turn slowly around, taking everything in, my smile overwhelms me. There's so much SPACE! My bags fall to the floor. My hands are raised.

"That's right, bitches," I say aloud. "This how we do it in America!"

With a skip and a jump, I fall spread-eagled onto the bed, taking up as much space as possible.

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