An Announcement of the Chulo Broadcast System...

they think they got me
i know the tricks of their game
and twenty-five bucks

With my AMEX Platinum I can get into the Delta Crown Room and drink for free before and after I travel on Delta flights. Delta flies from PBI and to JFK and LGA, so finding an airport in New York is hardly an issue. The problem I've now run into is that Delta has discontinued its Delta Song discounted service, and now I am reduced to flying at full fare or flying Jet Blue and paying for my drinks without a cool clubhouse to provide free drinks and an opportunity to pretend to be wealthy.

While Delta flights are usually more money than the Delta Song flights, there is this one provision that not many know about -- Same Day Ticket Re-Issuing. When you contact Delta three hours before your scheduled flight and providing there is space available on the flight you would actually like to be on, you pay only a $25 fee to change your flight to the earlier or later flight on that same day! While I am currently booked on a Wednesday flight that leaves in the evening and gets in around midnight, there is another flight that leaves around midday and gets in at 3:30 in the afternoon. The fare difference however is a whopping two hundred bucks! Who in Christ's name is going to pay somewhere in the $400 range for a flight you can secure for $25 more on the same day of travel? Not I, and neither should you if you choose to fly Delta and don't like the online itineraries they create for you.

Now I have my relatively cheap airplane reservation and my free drinks in the clubhouse. When I arrive to the Crown Room, I am going to see if there are any first class seats they might be persuaded to bump me up to for free, since after all, I am a loyal Delta customer.

Our trip begins on the eighth of June. Why did we not come earlier in the year you might be wondering. As you may or may not be well aware, the largest collection of Puerto Ricans in one place, aside from those found in Puerto Rico, will occur this year on the 11th of June. On that day we have ourselves The Puerto Rican Day Parade, and I, Chulo Rodriguez, will be in attendance. It has become an annual event for my Nation, making this our third year participating in such a glorious event.

In addition to our Delta experiences in the Crown Room and the Puerto Rican Day parade, a moment that I have been anticipating for nearly a year may come to pass -- a human encounter with The Scientist from the North. Call it a coincidence or call it fate, whichever you believe in, but The Scientist from the North will also be in New York City for the Puerto Rican Day parade. He'll be staying in the Bronx and I will be staying in Brooklyn. Granted, the two Boroughs are quite a distance apart, however they are much closer than Chicago is to Florida.

I know he will be busy, as he's very active in the Puerto Rican community, however I am anxious about our meeting because I've built it up to such an absurd degree, that any amount of disappointment could cause a shifting in the tectonic plates beneath the Earth's crust, causing a massive earthquake that might consume the island of Manhattan. I hope for my own sake that I don't get stood up -- my flight back is on the 14th, so we should hypothetically have plenty of time to make arrangements to sit down for something as simple lunch or something more eventful, perhaps dinner and a movie. Due to the dynamic that I currently share with The Scientist from the North, I want our encounter to be something that is not only memorable, but something that truly gives us time to get to know each other -- know each other on the real.

When I come to New York, it's often hard to find alone time because I want to see all of the people that I care about, and that usually gets translated into group encounters. I want to spend at the least an afternoon with my son, Suavemente, perhaps take him to the club afterwards. He's been down lately, and I think spending time together just to get his mind off of things would be helpful.

I'm not ready to be let down quite yet. But I still have hope, that one day, I'll take a chance again, in the horrible face of expectation. And it'll be worth it... ~ Felicity