FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2009
Going Home
I am beginning to lose faith in the the human race.
Yes, I can make such sweeping statements because I have just had to deal with airports today. Oy vey. Anyone who flies kind of loses hope after a day of traveling, though, right?
OK, so nothing specific or terrible happened, I guess. I'm just kind of shocked at how selfish strangers can be to one another when their own comfort and convenience is at stake! It's just little things, but those things matter when they are so obvious. Remember that, frequent travelers!!! Be Warned! People blog about your rudeness later!
So, we left Port Orleans this morning after breakfast. I love the way they handle your luggage from the Disney resorts, because you can actually check your baggage before you ever get on the bus to go to the airport! No long lines at the airport to hand over your stuff! Yay! Well, not entirely. We still had to stand in line a bit because the flight number on our connection flight from Atlanta to Huntsville was changed and we had to get new boarding passes for that leg of the trip. It wasn't bad, though. We got our tickets and went to one of the stores at the airport I wanted to visit.
It was actually a store called LUSH that I visited once, years ago, in Toronto. The stores have finally filtered down to the US over the past few years. Of course, there are none in Huntsville or even close so I wanted to go when I had the chance. Anyway, the sales people were super nice and helpful, but they followed me around almost the whole time I was there and I do not like that. They were so busy being helpful that they wouldn't let me browse at my leisure. I didn't mind them wanting to help me, but I quickly wanted them to leave me alone so I could shop. I was trying to catch a flight, after-all, and I didn't have the time to chat. I made my purchases and finally got out of the door and we breezed through security (thank goodness). I've finally figured out not to wear a belt, take off my glasses, wear shoes that are easy to slip on and off and carry easily recognizable items in my carry-on. As long as my under-wire doesn't start setting off the metal detector, I should be OK.
The gate was really crowded and there weren't many seats available, but Steve and I finally found two of them together. I sat down while Steve went to get a soda and I placed his back pack on his seat so no one would sit there. While he was gone, a little girl came and sat down in his seat, practically on his back pack. I know it wasn't her fault for sitting there, she was only a little girl, but her mother didn't say a word. I kept thinking that her mom would tell her to move, but she didn't. Oh well, I just picked up Steve's backpack and when he got back, we had to sit on the floor. Nice. I also noticed that the reason there weren't that many seats available was because a lot of people had their bags on seats. It wasn't that they were saving the seats, they just didn't want to put their stuff on the floor. Rude!
Our flight was completely full and I was stuck in a center seat again, but at least this time I was next to Steve. There was a nice Latino gentleman on my other side and he didn't spill over onto my seat. He also fell asleep practically immediately, so it was much more comfortable on the flight back. The flight itself was fairly uneventful except for the lady in front of me who decided that she should lean her chair back on me. Maybe she was air-sick, I didn't know, so I didn't say anything. Also, when they gave me my little bag of peanuts, the bag was kind of hard to open, and when I finally managed to open it, peanuts flew out and landed all over Steve. I was so glad he wasn't a stranger! :) When we landed and were waiting to get off of the plane, a woman behind me started complaining. A lot. She couldn't wait to get off of this plane. The flight had been horrible. She wanted to go home and etc. It went on and on and got old really fast. Then she got on her cell phone and started bitching (pardon that word, but it is apt) at someone on the other end kind of loudly. It became clear that she was talking to her mother about being sure she (the mom) had the unity candles. Not just the candles, but the candle holders and she'd better made sure she had all of them! Other things were said, but by that point I realized that this woman was on her way home from her honeymoon and from the way she was behaving, she hadn't had a very nice time. The complaining got so bad that I came within an ace of turning to her new husband and wishing him luck, but I refrained. My mother raised me better! :)
Our flight to Huntsville wasn't bad, although it was cramped. We got stalled out on the runway for some reason. There was a guy on our flight who got on his cell phone and started talking while we were stalled, and he was so loud. There are a lot of people who seem to feel the need to yell into their cell phones, and this guy was one of them. He wasn't really supposed to be on his phone at this point anyways, but he didn't seem to mind. Once we were cleared for take-off, he finally put his phone away, much to everyone's delight. Seriously, he was loud.
Yes, I can make such sweeping statements because I have just had to deal with airports today. Oy vey. Anyone who flies kind of loses hope after a day of traveling, though, right?
OK, so nothing specific or terrible happened, I guess. I'm just kind of shocked at how selfish strangers can be to one another when their own comfort and convenience is at stake! It's just little things, but those things matter when they are so obvious. Remember that, frequent travelers!!! Be Warned! People blog about your rudeness later!
So, we left Port Orleans this morning after breakfast. I love the way they handle your luggage from the Disney resorts, because you can actually check your baggage before you ever get on the bus to go to the airport! No long lines at the airport to hand over your stuff! Yay! Well, not entirely. We still had to stand in line a bit because the flight number on our connection flight from Atlanta to Huntsville was changed and we had to get new boarding passes for that leg of the trip. It wasn't bad, though. We got our tickets and went to one of the stores at the airport I wanted to visit.
It was actually a store called LUSH that I visited once, years ago, in Toronto. The stores have finally filtered down to the US over the past few years. Of course, there are none in Huntsville or even close so I wanted to go when I had the chance. Anyway, the sales people were super nice and helpful, but they followed me around almost the whole time I was there and I do not like that. They were so busy being helpful that they wouldn't let me browse at my leisure. I didn't mind them wanting to help me, but I quickly wanted them to leave me alone so I could shop. I was trying to catch a flight, after-all, and I didn't have the time to chat. I made my purchases and finally got out of the door and we breezed through security (thank goodness). I've finally figured out not to wear a belt, take off my glasses, wear shoes that are easy to slip on and off and carry easily recognizable items in my carry-on. As long as my under-wire doesn't start setting off the metal detector, I should be OK.
The gate was really crowded and there weren't many seats available, but Steve and I finally found two of them together. I sat down while Steve went to get a soda and I placed his back pack on his seat so no one would sit there. While he was gone, a little girl came and sat down in his seat, practically on his back pack. I know it wasn't her fault for sitting there, she was only a little girl, but her mother didn't say a word. I kept thinking that her mom would tell her to move, but she didn't. Oh well, I just picked up Steve's backpack and when he got back, we had to sit on the floor. Nice. I also noticed that the reason there weren't that many seats available was because a lot of people had their bags on seats. It wasn't that they were saving the seats, they just didn't want to put their stuff on the floor. Rude!
Our flight was completely full and I was stuck in a center seat again, but at least this time I was next to Steve. There was a nice Latino gentleman on my other side and he didn't spill over onto my seat. He also fell asleep practically immediately, so it was much more comfortable on the flight back. The flight itself was fairly uneventful except for the lady in front of me who decided that she should lean her chair back on me. Maybe she was air-sick, I didn't know, so I didn't say anything. Also, when they gave me my little bag of peanuts, the bag was kind of hard to open, and when I finally managed to open it, peanuts flew out and landed all over Steve. I was so glad he wasn't a stranger! :) When we landed and were waiting to get off of the plane, a woman behind me started complaining. A lot. She couldn't wait to get off of this plane. The flight had been horrible. She wanted to go home and etc. It went on and on and got old really fast. Then she got on her cell phone and started bitching (pardon that word, but it is apt) at someone on the other end kind of loudly. It became clear that she was talking to her mother about being sure she (the mom) had the unity candles. Not just the candles, but the candle holders and she'd better made sure she had all of them! Other things were said, but by that point I realized that this woman was on her way home from her honeymoon and from the way she was behaving, she hadn't had a very nice time. The complaining got so bad that I came within an ace of turning to her new husband and wishing him luck, but I refrained. My mother raised me better! :)
Our flight to Huntsville wasn't bad, although it was cramped. We got stalled out on the runway for some reason. There was a guy on our flight who got on his cell phone and started talking while we were stalled, and he was so loud. There are a lot of people who seem to feel the need to yell into their cell phones, and this guy was one of them. He wasn't really supposed to be on his phone at this point anyways, but he didn't seem to mind. Once we were cleared for take-off, he finally put his phone away, much to everyone's delight. Seriously, he was loud.
It's kind of dark, but that's my foot looking plaintively out of the window. It was an advanced yoga move to get my foot to that point.
Once we touched down, and before it was allowed, Mr. Loud Talker got his cell phone back out and called someone. I thought that he must have some pretty important business to take care of if he couldn't wait the 5 minutes for us to get out of the plane, but that wasn't the case. He just called someone to chat. Loudly. It was like he really needed to show off that he had a phone or something. It was weird.
We finally got inside, and I realized how glad I was that our airport is so small. A lot of people complain, but I didn't mind. It's nice to get home and not have to elbow your way to baggage claim or take a tram from one gate to another. We got our bags and went home.
Thus endeth our vacation. Whew.
We finally got inside, and I realized how glad I was that our airport is so small. A lot of people complain, but I didn't mind. It's nice to get home and not have to elbow your way to baggage claim or take a tram from one gate to another. We got our bags and went home.
Thus endeth our vacation. Whew.
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