"that boat company doesn't exist"

I just finished up a month of WWOOFing on the island of Paros deep within the Aegean sea. I had hard time getting there however, i had just finished four solid days of drinking and laughing with Chuck and Heather and was feeling a little tired, beat up and worn out. i had forgone a shower that morning and it was a mistake. i got to the port where i was to board my ferry to Paros at 8:15 am. i was on time but my boat was not. i was at the port by 7:15am, my scheduled departure was at 8:15am, as i sauntered up to my boat i handed my ticket to the deckhand and he told me in a ruder than i needed at the moment fashion that i had the wrong ship, in fact he said "that boat company doesn't exist". i turned to look at the taxi driver, he had told me he knew exactly the boat i needed to get to and was now speeding away from the scene as if he had just robbed a bank. darn it all, i was not in the mood for this sort of run around. i left the boat and walked the not-so-close distance to the reception center where all the boats and piers are listed along with their times of arrival and departures. hmmm, my boat was nowhere on the list, the first boat out of the port was at 9:45. i hung my head wondering just what had gone wrong. my ticket was entirely in Greek and studying it was doing me little good. After the nice ladies at the reception desk helped me decipher it they spoke to each other in Greek for quite sometime as i watched the clock get closer and closer to my departure time. They seem to agree that my boat didn't exist, that the only one that was going to Paros that day was the one i had been refused entry to. what i couldn't explain was that i had tried to board it and had been kicked off. it was not my boat. i was bummed, the ticket had cost quite a few euros and well the idea of buying a new one was really not helping my mood. i was told to go to the ticket counter when it opened at 9:00, that they might be able to help, well clearly i was supposed to be in the water far from here by 9:00 and with 15 minutes left i ran to the cab stand and had them drive me around the docks looking for the phantom boat. as i watched the clock tick 8:15 and my cab driver shrug and shake his head i was dropped off at the same reception desk more tired, more dirty and more frustrated. i decided to walk to ticket booth, what other options did i have? if fact i had been told that there was no other option by no less than three people. maybe, just maybe they could do something for me. í waited for the ticket office to open and when the ticket lady approached the booth i handed her my ticket, looking very dirty, sweaty and tired. she gave me a "hold on" signal, it could have been a "take it easy buddy, i just got here, this job sucks enough without being pounced on as soon as i step out of my car" signal, but i couldn't tell. She came out of the booth holding my new ticket and explained that my boat had been cancelled and that they had emailed me. My brain wanted to yell "the hell you did, do you have any idea how many people looked at me like i was crazy this morning! i have been wandering around this port for almost two hours, see this pack? look light to you? your company is crap lady!" i decided to go with the heart, i smiled wide breathed a big sigh of relief and said "you may not like this but i am going to give you a hug" i gave her a hearty "you just made my day" hug. the others in line laughed as she froze in disbelief as i caught he off guard. she might have froze due to my smell or general appearance but I'll never know. i boarded the boat to Paros and handed my ticket to the guy who had kicked me out earlier, i tried really hard not to say something under my breath but truly not hard enough. i found my seat popped two motion sickness pills for the three hour trip, my 7th grade throw up experience on a school wale watch trip still fresh in my mind, i had no need to repeat that little embarrassing moment. i was so tired already i am sure the pills didn't help but my island was the third stop of five and when i woke we were on our way to the forth. i watched as my stop grew further from the boat. I told someone on board and she said  loudly apparently not noticing that i had leaned in to tell her discreetly "you missed your stop because you were sleeping?!" we now had the attention of no less than 30 Japanese tourists, staring at us blankly. "yeah, look it lady, its been a long four days, there is this wine and i have these friends..." i was cut off, i feel like she might have heard that story before, and i was told that i would have to wait for the boat to turn around and stop going the other direction, another 3 hours. i sighed but what could i do? it was all my fault. Paros was worth the wait and frustration however and what began with a crap journey ended with a really great month on a island paradise in the middle of the Aegean...