One of the first things that you learn when you move to
central Texas is that allergy season here is pure hell. I’m not entirely sure
why, I mean it’s not like the area is exactly covered in greenery and
vegetation. Still, this time of the year it is not at all uncommon to walk out
in the morning and find your car completely covered with a green coating of
pollen and other allergens. This was
exactly the case when it came time to catch my flight to Detroit, and I was
having a major allergy attack, with eyes bright red and swollen, tearing up,
and my nose running like a faucet. Let’s just say that there was no way in hell
that I was even gonna consider trying to fly there “pretty”. The trip home on
the other hand . . .
Given the unhappy
results the last time that I took my bags up the escalator, I decided to
use the elevators this time and try to avoid making a complete ass outta myself
again. The first elevator was where the rental car bus drops you off, and then
you walk across a bridge and take another elevator to get to the airline
counters. When I entered the first elevator, a well-dressed man in a suit and tie
followed me in. He took one look at me and started to grin.
“So, is this a weekend trip for you then?” he asked with a
sparkle in his eyes.
“Not exactly!” I told him with a laugh.
After I crossed over the bridge and approached the next set
of elevators, there were about five women standing there and discussing whether
they should just take the escalator or wait for the elevator. I grinned,
thinking of what had happened to me, and then entered the elevator when it
arrived. In just a moment, the elevator was packed full as these women and
their bags also entered.
“You made the right call in taking the elevator.” I told
them all, and then proceeded to share the story of my little escalator mishap.
As the elevator drew to a stop and the doors opened, all of the women were
laughing as we exited.
It seems that Delta airlines is pretty much always a lot
more expensive than US Airways, and so these days I am flying with US Airways a
lot more than I used to. That kind of irritates me, because I really like Delta
better – they have always been a lot friendlier, and unlike US Airways, Delta
has never lost my luggage. In today’s economy though, I can’t possibly justify
spending $600 more for flights just to use the airline that I prefer. I was pleasantly
surprised as I checked in with the airline, because the woman behind the
counter was genuinely friendly and helpful. Maybe it’s just the US Airways
people in the Austin airport that are unfriendly? Tickets in hand, I made my
way to a chair just outside of the TSA check point, where I stopped to take my
laptop out of my bag and to remove my jewelry and stuff. While I was doing
this, a young woman walked up to the chair next to me where she was also
preparing for the security check point. I took one look at her shoes and busted
out laughing, because she was wearing huge bunny slippers.
“LOVE your shoes!” I told her with a wink as she looked at
me.
“Yeah, I didn’t get any sleep last night, so I figured I
needed to be comfortable!” she told me with a frown.
“That’s cool! And here I thought that I was being brave!” I replied with a laugh.
Later on that afternoon I was sitting in the Charlotte
airport waiting for my connecting flight when a tall woman came and sat down
next to me. We sat there for a couple of hours because the plane was delayed, so
she and I ended up chatting about this and that. Apparently we were both
watching as an absolutely flawless woman was approaching the moving
walkway wearing a tight and form fitting dress and four inch stiletto heels.
She came to almost a complete stop at the entrance the walkway and then very
carefully stepped onto it. I glanced at the woman next to me, who was about my own
size and shape, and was gonna make a sarcastic comment about how it must be
nice to be a perfect little size six, but she spoke first.
“I was just hoping that she was gonna bust her ass!” she
told me with an evil grin.
I don’t know why we both thought this was hilarious, but we
both laughed for quite a while about it . . .
Hello Kimberly,
ReplyDeleteAnother wonderfully told tale of your travels. I enjoy as always reading about and seeing life through your eyes. I love the sense of humor you have about everything and the way you just charge ahead and handle things. Your exploits mean the world to me.
Tolerance and acceptance abound. Much better than it was 20 years ago. You go girl!
ReplyDeleteIt seemed quite a while since your last post....was missing your adventures
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear from you again, I was beginning to wonder if you were still travelling
ReplyDeleteWhen are you going to be in the Boston area again?
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the outfit, gf! :)
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - I dunno. The company that used to take me there once a year or closed their doors a few years ago. :(
ReplyDeleteMY company is actually headquartered out of the area, but believe it or not, I don't have much excuse for going back to the mother ship often. :(
Like you, Kimberly, I'm flying US Air a lot more, especially in/out of Austin. And their morning agent team are uniformly swarthy... even to someone en drab. At lest they don't openly pick on you...
ReplyDelete