They didn’t tell me much in flight attendant school about the effects of severe jet lag. Traveling a lot through time zones and datelines, a person’s sense of time can get really messed up. Throw in daylight savings time change and things get really crazy.

There was one time during my flight attendant career that I was reading the newspaper,  completely unaware that it was from two days before. I was due to finish work in a bit, and I was reading the Miami Herald. I was going to be in Miami for a couple of days, and I was checking to see about the nightlife. I believed it to be Thursday at the time, when it was really Saturday. I picked a good show in South Beach, not knowing that it actually started in a couple of hours.

When I landed I was approached by Jesse, a friend of mine from flight attendant school. She was in Miami for a few nights as well, coincidentally.

“So Bill, what are you going to be doing while you’re here?” she asked me as we walked through the airport.

“I’m going to see Pablo Francisco at the Fillmore, but right now I’m going to get some rest,” I replied. I must have had a smile on my face, because she thought I was joking.

“You’re a riot, Bill. You better hurry, though. You can probably make it if you get a cab now.”

I looked at the date on my cell phone and felt quite dumb.

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