Always over-early

For Christmas last year, me, my sisters and our respective families gave our parents a theater visit with dinner included in the ticket. Last night it was time for the theater visit. My younger sister sent a text asking if the food was ok as the quality varies a lot at these events. Within 10 seconds she got a text from mom with a couple of question marks.

My sister immediately called up and explained that a dinner is also included, whereupon they had to start looking for the dining room. Since our mother always is ahead of time, they had plenty of time.

I don't know anyone else who can arrive a week early to a hotel without calling ahead except my parents. When they were in America last time, they shortened the trip from New Orleans and Nashville to Fort Lauderdale by a week because they thought it was too cold. I can only guess what the hotel staff was thinking when they stood in the lobby a week before the scheduled date of their booking.

Once when my younger sister and I traveled with our mother to New York, we arrived at the airport a day early for our return trip. Since we had already checked out of the hotel, I hear my mom ask the airport personnel quote "Is there any flight to Europe today?" unquote. We ended up buying a new return ticket via a flight to Germany that left later that evening. We landed 11 hours earlier than planned.

That our parents manage to fly with the right flight both there and home this last time is truly inapprehensible.