Travel Perks

someone was just telling me how cool my travels are for work. um...HELLO? no they're not. take my recent return from NY. it was the flight from hell.

first, the plane was 20 mins late. i was still in a suit after mtgs all day.

it was a full flight and when i finally got on, there was no place to put my luggage (22" pullman). i kindly asked my neighbors in a very LOUD voice as i pointed at 3 little messenger bags, who do these belong to? can you please stick them under your seat so i can put my suitcase in the overhead compartment? if you don't want them under your seat, i'll stick them under mine. no one responded, and needless to say, i was annoyed. ended up wedging my bag under my seat, which is technically illegal cuz half of it sticks out and there's nowhere to put your feet except on top of the bag, but the flight attendant was too busy to care and i wasn't waiting around in baggage claim after the delay we already had.

after finally boarding everyone, we got to the runway and waited in line for AN HOUR to take off. there were literally 20 planes ahead of us either taking off or landing on the SAME RUNWAY. who does that? and is it just me or is that an ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN. morons...

then our captain wouldn't shut up. instead of just saying "hey folks, sorry for the delay, blah, blah, blah" it was hey folks, sorry for the delay, but the weather in mpls is pretty miserable which is why we were late getting into NY and leaving now. we'll be experiencing some turbulence, so i guess you're getting your money's worth today: not only were we late taking off, but now you're going to get a sophisticated ride. lots of bumps and maybe more delays in the air, but that's ok. we have enough fuel to last us an extra 45 mins if need be. so sit back, relax, and get ready for a sophisticated ride...

SERIOUSLY??? WHO SAYS DELAYS + EXTREME TURBULENCE = SOPHISTICATED??? i was ready to scream. and mind you, this was the first of 4 or 5 10 min long announcements by him. and when i say 10 mins, i mean 10 MINS! when we landed he even said ...have a good night and be safe, take care of yourself, take care of the people sitting next to you, hope you enjoyed your flight with us... TAKE CARE OF THE PEOPLE SITTING NEXT TO YOU??? WHO SAYS THAT??? OMG...

by the time we finally landed, the main flght attendant came on the loudspeaker to wish us a good night, acknowledge that some of us had a long day, and apologize for the flight. i'm assuming it was really to apologize for the captain cuz the guy sounded like he had no clue how many people he ticked off repeatedly w/his random unsolicited 10 min rants. and they were all in this slightly southern, fratty sounding young voice, which made the man sound even MORE INCOMPETENT than he was already coming across.

it took me a solid 5 mins to wedge my luggage out from under my seat, and people saw me obviously struggling cuz my leg and butt had gone numb and i was holding my back in pain from the cramped way i was forced to sit the whole time. no one apologized or dared reach for their tiny bags in the overhead compartment. the guy next to me was nice and offered help both before and after the ride, but i've decided everyone else on that plane SUCKED.

i was suppose to be in bed by 11pm at the latest. i got to bed at 1:30am...

and of course all this happens after getting no sleep the night before cuz of a big black crawly thing that came across my shoulder towards my head while i was laying in bed at 2am... GROSS!

traveling for work is NOT glamourous. believe me, i know...