05 March 2007

airport blogging part 2

I made it, of course. And it's 0545, and I've already been up for an hour. Had to make a run to Walgreens to pick up some toothpaste and hair gel. You know that 3-1-1 rule? 3 oz. liquid/gels in a 1 quart bag? Carry on was the right choice, but I didn't get to Duane Reade before I left ....

OK. The flight from NY to Philly, on a tiny jet, 2 seats on either side of the aisle. Now, when you're flying, there is a hierarchy to the desired seating arrangements. Aisle or window? Don't be so naive, those things aren't that important. It's the seat beside you that's important. So what do you look for?
  1. The hot chick. This is the best case scenario. Every flight has a hot chick on it, and every guy secretly hopes that he gets seated next to her, and that she'll chat him up during the flight. This is the zenith of randomly assigned airplane seating. As you're all lining up to board, you glance at the 16C on your ticket and try to sneak a peak at her ticket. A 16B is perfect, although a 15D is pretty damn good, too, because you can leer at her the entire flight without getting caught.
  2. The empty chair. This is the next best thing. Yes, the hot chick is better than an empty seat, but an empty seat is awesome.
  3. A small person, but not a child. Too much movement. A teen engrossed in an iPod is OK.
  4. Good hygiene. It's really a debate whether or not this should be #3.
The worst case scenario is an unpleasant enormous person. I dodged that bullet, but I had sitting next to me an enormous pleasant person. Now, I'm not thin, but I don't require a seat belt extender. Thank God the flight to Philly was only about 35 minutes.

So now I'm waiting in Philly, and the flight is scheduled to leave at 3.35pm, and there are about 200 anxious people as the clock keeps ticking. The US Airways employee who is making the informational announcement as to why we are delayed is of Indian heritage (dot, not feather) and after each broadcast, everyone turns to each other and says, "What did he say?"

It seems that US Airways and America West merged, and yesterday was the first day of the new software that consummated the union. And it was not a pretty sight. Possibly grounds for an annulment.

But I'm here. I've got a rented car which reminds me of the flight to Philly ... good thing I'm limber. I head out in a bit for my class, which is about 5 miles from where I am staying. So far, all is on schedule.

And as an added bonus, I'll still be in the States when 300 is released, and plan to see it on the Imax screen on Saturday.

2 comments:

  1. I love your (dot, not feather) (poor columbus, so much evidence of his ... ignorance, all these years later)

    I *love* the way Indians speak English, and I can generally understand them better than the people around me.

    I want to see 300 too, but I guess I'll wait for the bittorrent (let's see if you let that slide...)

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  2. bittorrent? slide? is this entrapment?

    You're welcome to wait for the bittorrent, I'm gonna see it on a HUGE SCREEN! The IMAX theatre is 1 block from my apartment.

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