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Aug. 27, 2007 We had a lovely time during our trip and I actually survived the flights to and from our destination. It has been a long while since I've flown and I was a little surprised by the lack of space on the plane and I felt like a sardine in a can being squished between two people. The Pilots never spoke to us and the Flight Attendants weren't terribly friendly, but all in all...it wasn't too bad. I guess I remember the days when the skies were supposed to be "Friendly" and now it's like a bus ride. The philosophy seems to be to cram as many people as possible into a small area and collect the fares. They wanted $3.00 for a small bag of Trail Mix and some cheese crackers (that was the lunch offered), but we did get free pretzels in a bag the size of a postage stamp!! I sat next to a first time flyer on the ride home who had never seen the Grand Canyon and I was thrilled that I could point it out to him. The pilot never mentioned that we were passing over one of the eight wonders of the world. In the old days they always mentioned when you were flying over something special and important. I wondered if mentioning it on the public address system would cause all of the passengers to move to one side of the plane which might tip it over, or maybe the Pilot's were napping and couldn't be bothered? There was a woman on board the first flight to our destination who got rather nasty with one of the female flight attendants and yelled at her for moving her suitcase in the overhead compartment. The problem was that the idiot woman had the wheels facing out and the door wouldn't close. The Flight Attendant was very polite and calmly told the nasty lady that she had been moving luggage around for a long time and that she wouldn't harm the lady's luggage by turning it around. I kept waiting for an air Marshall to eject the woman from the plane because we hadn't taken off yet. You have to be careful how you behave on flights these days and this woman was dangerously close to being way too confrontational with an airline employee. Speaking of taking off....this is not my favorite part of any flight and I hold my breath until I see the attendants walking around. I actually timed how long it took to reach cruising altitude and was sure that it was at least a half hour procedure. It actually took about 6 minutes. I suppose it just feels like it takes a lot longer because I am in a state of utter terror the entire time. Landings don't bother me as much and I mentally grade the Pilot's abilities by how bumpy the touch-down is. Thankfully, the Pilots going and coming got good grades from me during both landings. I still had the urge to kiss the ground upon landing and exiting the plane but resisted because it appeared that no one ever cleans the gangways that lead to and from the aircraft. We had very little turbulence even though there were a lot of monsoonal cloud formations over Arizona so I didn't panic too much for which I was very grateful. A few times the seat belt signs dinged but I never did figure out why. No one said a word so I figured that the Pilot's were bored and playing with the lights. Anyway, we made it to and from our destination and had a lovely time. I am very glad to be back on solid ground even if we are expecting a monsoon sometime this evening. At least I can count on standing upright if I stay out of the wind!! There is no place like home!!!! ------------ About the author: Meri has a Medical/Legal background and is a former forensic researcher specializing in psychological profiling. Visit the Xlibris Bookstore! Email: writers2@cox.net Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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