Letters from North
America
This
past week I’ve been in
London and Germany. I’ve
had a chance to sit back
and watch how other
people travel. It’s a
good opportunity for me
to just kind of lay back
and observe. By this
stage in my life I try
to plan ahead and do my
packing as neatly as
possible and with a
minimum of fuss. I try
to take only the clothes
I will need and not over
pack. As you know, this
is often harder to do
than it sounds.
When boarding an
airplane I always make
every effort to get into
my seat as quickly as
possible to allow others
to get past me and get
in their positions. The
planes won’t leave until
everyone is in their
seats. Some people seem
to be unaware of this
and hang out in the
aisles as if they are
the only ones on the
plane and no one else
needs to be seated.
These people fool with
their bags in the
overhead bins, look for
their books, make cell
phones calls, comb their
hair, update their
makeup and just about
everything else besides
brushing their teeth.
Here’s another one
now….getting into his
seat with his iPod on
and ear buds plugged
in…..now he decides to
put up the music and
grab a book from his
back pack which has
about 20 different
zipper pockets…he unzips
all of them before he
finds what he is looking
for. I suppose it never
occurred to him to do
this before he got into
the aisle of the plane
while about 75 people
are waiting to get into
their seats.
Often you will see
people on a full flight
who have some sort of
bag that they try to fit
into the overhead bin
that I am afraid will
punch a hole in the side
of the aircraft which is
sure to cause us further
delays. You can go to
great lengths to neatly
fold your coat only to
sit back and see some
bozo shove everything
aside in order to make
more room for a box or
bag that they should
have checked when they
got to the terminal. I
was on a flight in South
America years ago and a
man had a cage full of
chickens that he stored
in the overhead bin, but
that’s another story. My
wife and I did see a man
traveling with a parrot
when we were in Seattle
earlier this month.
Stick around long enough
and I suppose you’ve see
just about everything.
On one of the flights I
took, this past week
there was a young couple
flying with twins. The
stroller they had with
them could have been
used as a shopping cart
in any grocery store
I’ve ever shopped. This
item was too big to
bring into the plane but
they did carry the kids
along with two giant car
seats which had to be
strapped into the
regular seats and then
have the kids strapped
securely before we could
leave. This poor couple
had bags and packages
stuffed into every part
of the plane. The only
way for them to find
their things when we
landed was to wait and
see what was left after
the rest of us got off.
I have no idea what
their luggage looked
like. They probably
needed a truck to haul
everything from one
place to another.
I can’t remember taking
any of my kids on a
plane when they were
this young. I do recall
that when we did travel,
we carried a diaper bag,
baby bottles and a
bottle warmer. We might
have had a quilt of some
kind. No car seats, no
stroller, nothing big
and bulky like I see in
the airports today. I
would suppose traveling
with this amount of
stuff requires one to
develop a sense of
planning. It’s not like
you can just decide
you’d like to throw
everything they carry
today over your arm and
head to the airport. No,
carrying kids today
takes planning and
logistical support. Lots
of support.
My wife thinks I am
becoming cynical the
older I get. I hope she
is not correct. I do
sincerely try to
maintain a sense of
humor about most things
as well as be more
sympathetic and have
more patience towards
other. I suppose I am
still a piece of work in
progress and there is
always room for
improvement in my
attitude.
I’ll try to work on it a
little more as soon as
I’m able to get into my
seat once this idiot in
front of me sits down.
Comments go to
pperry@austin.rr.com
