Seat1A

i had a 12:55pm flight today, MHT-CLT. at 12:27, i was eating lunch at the milltown grille, when i heard a final boarding call for my flight. please board immediately, if you're not on board 15 minutes prior to departure, your reservations are subject to cancellation. five minutes later, i (and about 8 other people) were paged by name. fortunately, the milltown grille was quick, and i made it to the gate around 12:38. i boarded, one person followed me, and the door closed at 12:40pm. we then took a very slow taxi and still had to sit until our wheels-up time at 13:01, and the flight still arrived over 20 minutes early.

this was all more annoying than having the flight 15 minutes late.. is this a common occurrence?

(on the bright side, i bypassed all of the lovely $10 "choice" seats in favor of a free seat in the exit row.. :-) )