Travel Adventures - is it ever "normal"????

Well, I made it to Capetown - just a few minor hitches along the way! The first hitch occurred when I arrived to New York!
The flight from JFK to Amsterdam was canceled - so they put me on the South African Air flight that I normally take which goes New York to Senegal to Johannesburg to Capetown. So, that all worked out fine and I even had an empty seat next to me between New York and Senegal, which allowed for a decent rest time, except for the minor distraction of the lady across the aisle being sick to her stomach the entire flight ! ! When I arrived in Johannesburg the real adventure began. Somehow, the guys in New York only booked me through to J'burg - not onto Capetown even though my luggage tags said Capetown and my itinerary he handed me said Capetown . . so therefore I was on stand by from J'burg to Capetown along with the rest of the population of South Africa! ! ! I arrived in J'burg at 4:30pm Wed. and by 8:00pm was still not on a flight, had missed a few and there was only one left - which was overbooked by 7 people PLUS had about 7-10 more on stand by . . . I figured no way was I going to make it . . so I started thinking I would find a hotel and fly over to Capetown in the morning. THEN, South African Air said they would give a hotel voucher to all those who were stuck . . . so as I was waiting to find out about the hotel - by this time it is 8:45pm . . . while I was on the phone with my friends in Capetown trying to explain my situation - all of the sudden one of the men who was waiting with me hands the lady at the counter his boarding pass - she rips it up and hands him another one and says - hurry - run to the gate . . . then another guy does the same thing . .so even though I had no idea what was happening or why, I hung up the phone and handed her my boarding pass and she says - OK, here you too - RUN ! ! ! Of course, I had ALL my luggage with me - but I took off at full speed . . . an "angel" appeared at security check and he helped me with my luggage down to the gate - when I ran up to the gate - there were about 15 people hovered around the desk - they all looked at me and said "Do you have a confirmed seat?" I said, "I think so" (honestly, it was all a blur and I had no idea if I had a confirmed seat) . .The crowd said "Give him your ticket" . . .so I handed in my ticket - they swept me through the doors onto the bus - thankfully my luggage "angel" was honest - I had lost track of him in the commotion, but he appeared at the bus door with my 2 pieces of luggage . . .The stand-by crowd at the desk were so funny, it was like they were all cheering for anyone who actually made it on! When we finally got on the plane - it was packed . . . a few of the stand by people that DID get on ended up riding in the "jump" seats back in the kitchen! ! ! So, I am here - safe and of somewhat sound mind! See why people don't travel with me - it is NEVER normal ! ! !