OK.
Things so far have been pretty darned good on this trip. The flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles with Virgin was fantastic. I am definitely going to fly with them again.
When we landed in LA we cleared immigration and customs quite easily. Nobody asked me about my large stash of medications. Thank God for that. (Who has that much time when you have to make a connecting flight?) Nobody frisked me or made me take my boots off.
Then I turned on my phone and iPad to contact the people who were waiting for us at this end. No go. The deep sinking feeling in my stomach grew stronger as I realised that the free wi-fi at LAX would not connect for me, either.
I cried. Not because I was being petulant, but because I knew people were waiting and anxious to hear from me and would be worried.
I felt so cut off. Isolated. First time in a new place and no way to contact anyone.
On top of that was the sense of injustice. I had prepared everything I could for this trip, including buying those SIM cards and getting the assurance from AT&T that everything was done and all I had to do was put them in and they would work.
My pain levels shot through the roof and I stood in the middle of LA International airport and cried like a baby.
All the glamorous and good looking people around us pretended it wasn’t happening, which was rather sporting of them, really.

We made our connecting flight easily. Now waiting to board Delta flight 1706 to Detroit.
A lovely lady loaned me her phone so I could send a message to the people waiting to hear from me. I felt so much better when I was able to let them know I was safe. Another lady with impeccable makeup and a Disney princess pink bow in her Snow White styled hair saw that I was upset and offered me her iPad to do the same thing.
How nice that in a huge airport on my first day in the US, one can still be met with kindness in strangers.