Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Travelogue South Carolina – In Transit


The flight here was completely uneventful – that's always a good thing!
At the last moment, I decided to trade in some miles for a seat in First Class. It was nice! It is always nice to be fawned over for a couple hours on a flight rather than being tossed mercilessly into cattle class! All the way here, I had a lovely time; I sipped a nice beverage or three, I read my books, and had a grand old time!

I got here and it was pouring! I had planned to go to a museum, I did have a three-hour layover; but that was before I saw what the weather looked like – and before I checked the schedule for the museum I was going to visit. It closed about the time I arrived.

Instead, I had a bite of dinner and then sat in the gate area waiting and reading. Oh, and trying to ignore the most obnoxious collections of lower orifices I have ever had the displeasure to come across in an airport. If they should ever happen to read this, I hope that they realize that I am talking about them! Here's a clue for you people: You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar!

They were flying on an oversold commuter flight to Cleveland and only a day ahead of the biggest travel holiday in the country. I lost count of how many times they yelled at the gate agent that they had BETTER get onto the plane!

They grumbled, they swore, they demanded to be given a rental car so they could drive to Cleveland. They insisted that they all had to be at work the next morning. It was a pathetic display of a horrendous lack of manners! The gate agent did her best to placate them and told them what she could and could not do. She asked that they wait to see if anyone would volunteer to give up their seats for the family. She asked that they be patient and see what happened.

Despite this, they howled, they whined, they complained and they were anything but subtle in their displeasure. At one point, they got up to leave the area (probably to complain to someone who couldn’t see their displeasure in the immediate area of the gate) and the people sitting around me all started discussing them. My favorite line was when one of them proclaimed "if they get on this flight, there is no God!"

I assume that guy had to convert to atheism; the family was able to get on the plane – we later learned that a late flight meant that some of the Cleveland passengers missed their connection. They are calling my flight now, so I had best wrap this up and board.

Wherever you are today I hope your day is pleasant and free of stress!

Don Bergquist – November 22, 2011 – Washington Dulles International Airport, Washington DC, USA

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