The Stuff Family Legends Are Made Of!!

This past weekend, Kerri, Cameron, Yaya, and I went to California to my my cousins' (Ted and Luisa) 25th wedding anniversary in Sacramento. There is so much to tell about this weekend that I may do a couple of posts in the same day!! We left early Saturday morning and had quite the adventure by 12:45!! We were planning to meet Yaya at the airport Saturday morning. We got through security fairly quickly and found our gate. There was a bar and grill right next to the gate so we decided to have some breakfast and a Bloody Mary. We sat close to the door so we could see Yaya when she got there. While we were waiting, Cecilia called and let us know that Yaya may be a bit late because she had left her purse in Pat's car. Pat had taken her to the airport and had gotten all the way home when she heard a cell phone ring and realized it was in Yaya's purse. Cecilia and Jay left earlier in the morning for Sacramento. Because of the bad weather, our plane was delayed about a half hour so we weren't really too worried about Yaya missing the plane. So we waited and watched.........

Fairly soon we spotted Yaya. She came into the bar and sat down. She was quite upset because of what had happened to her trying to get through security. I asked her what she would like to drink and she said a scotch and soda. Now Yaya isn't much of a drinker, but is known to have a drink or two before a flight as she gets a bit nervous flying. So our waiter, who was quite "flamboyant," came over to take her order. He asked for her identification which he had done to both Kerri and I. Now I am no spring chicken and Yaya is a bit older than me, but asking for our ID was a bit much. Her driver's license is a bit blurry. Kerri had helped her order a new one when we were in Douglas a few weeks ago, but it hadn't come yet. So our waiter told her that her birth date wasn't clear enough so he couldn't serve her a drink!!!!! Well, that was the last straw so to speak..... The more we said how ridiculous this was, the more our power hungry, flamboyant waiter dug in his heals!! Yaya called him Sheriff Joe at one point!! We asked to speak with the manager who came over. In the meantime, Kerri was trying to find something on the Internet with her name from social security, etc. Yaya was going through her purse looking for something with her picture and birth date. She tried showing him a Costco card, a bank card with her picture, another identification, but nothing had her birth date on it. The waiter was trying to tell us that this is state law. Yaya informed him that she was not talking to him anymore and I told them that I live in Arizona and didn't get "carded" every time I went anywhere. So our waiter left the manager with us trying to find something that would work. Finally, Yaya found her Arizona State Fingerprint Clearance Card which the manager accepted.

Our waiter, who we named Josephina at this point, strutted over and demanded that Kerri and I close out our bill because "he was done serving us!" I believe that this might be the first time I have ever been dumped by a waiter!! And we are good tippers!!!!! When we paid our bill, Kerri wrote "nope" in the tip amount part! The waiter had to take his 15 minute break because we had upset him so much!!!

So a new waitress came and took our order and was very nice. This is when we found out what had happened to Yaya at the security gate. I guess sometimes your past can come back to haunt you at any time in your life. When she was a toddler, Yaya was quite the pistol. My grandfather nicknamed her "Dynamite" because that was how she acted. She was also a biter and did quite a bit of biting. As Teresa says, you are "as welcome as the plague, when you have a biter." She does add that Yaya was so cute. This has been a family legend for as long as I can remember.

Over the course of the years when we attend ASU football games, Yaya has been known to hit someone with her purse when they were cheering too loudly for the opposing team, to throw ice or popcorn at opponent's fans, and a variety of other clandestine activities. When the person who received her "tokens of disdain" turns around to look, there is Yaya sitting properly with her hands folded. I can tell you there is no one more innocent looking than Yaya in the entire stadium!!!

So obviously security at Sky Harbor has heard about these dastardly deeds... That is the only explanation I can come up with for the way she was treated. The first time she went through security, she hadn't realized she didn't have her purse. She did have her driver's license and two dollars in her pocket. When she tried to go through the security system, she was moved to a holding cell and a wand was used on her. At this point, she realized she didn't have her purse. She was told that she couldn't talk to anyone. She tried to explain to the security person what had happened and asked to use a phone. They allowed her one call. She was able to get in touch with Pat and go out and get her bag. Then she had to go through security again. Once again, she was placed in a holding cell and this time she was patted down. She was told that she was on a security watch list. They gave her a letter so that she could find out why she is on "the list." I can guarantee you with the life that Yaya leads, it has to be one of the deeds that I have mentioned previously!!! No wonder she needed a scotch and soda!!!!!!!!!!!!

We left for the Sacramento airport a bit early this morning because Yaya was worried. We had absolutely no trouble getting through security there. We stopped at the bar close to our gate and had a drink. We were both "carded" but there was absolutely no question about her driver's license.

We laughed about this, told it over and over again, and embellished the story over this past weekend. As I said, it will become a family legend I am sure.

I do want to say one thing of a serious nature, though. This was a very upsetting experience for someone who doesn't deserve to be treated that way. If there was some problem, I would think that it would have surfaced in Sacramento. Yaya was a great sport about this whole thing, but it doesn't make much sense that someone would be treated this way by both the government and the food establishment.

We had a great weekend and I am going to write more about the reason we went to Sacramento later in the week!!! Hope you enjoy the song with this post. It is dedicated to Yaya--"Scotch and Soda" by the Kingston Trio!