Another sure way you can tell it’s the holiday season is the number of people running late to catch a plane to MiMa’s house. Have you ever seen the movie Home Alone? The McCallister's rush like crazy to the airport, run like hell through Chicago O’Hare to the gate, make it just in time to get on the plane and then take a deep sigh of relief. That happens a lot this time of year. I don’t know how many of these people are leaving a kid at home but the frequency of people getting to the gate just in time is much higher. I have witnessed this 4 times in the last week alone. I would have been the recipient of a Stand-By ticket had these people not shown up. Instead, their tardiness gave me false hope that I might make it to my destination sooner.
The airports are busy and full with lots of holiday travelers. These travelers don’t hang the stockings by the chimney with care but they do place wrapped presents in overhead bends very gently, trying hard not to rip the pretty paper. They must think that rule of 1 Carry-On and 1 Personal item doesn’t apply this time of year or they are exempt because they are doing Santa’s work. I watched a woman argue with a gate agent the other night about this very topic. With some of the words she choose to use, I think she qualifies for Santa’s naughty list. As usual, the gate agent won and the passenger uttered those famous words, “I will never fly this airline again!”
This time of year also brings a higher frequency of unpredictable weather and delays. The DE-ICING of the Plane is one of the most tedious necessary evils ever. This process can take over an hour depending on your location. Small regional airports generally don’t have lots of trucks so if you are the third plane in line for De-icing, go ahead and start writing a book on your experience of being held captive on a plane. By the time the de-icing is done, you should have the first draft of your manuscript completed. Additionally, if you are flying out of a larger Hub, the de-icing process causes congestion on the run way, thus lots of time sitting on the tarmac. Watching people get antsy, take big sighs and ask questions aloud to anyone who will listen is entertaining. “Why are we not moving?” “What is going on up there?” “What is taking so long?” I will admit that sometimes, the Captain of the Plane could make an announcement to inform people of what’s happening but his job is to fly the plane, not serve as our play by play commentator. SAFETY FIRST!
So, if you are traveling this holiday season, travel safe. I would suggest shipping your presents ahead of time; it will save you lots of hassle. Be patient and understand that the airlines and Air Traffic Control cannot control the weather. And try to get the airport on time. You don’t want to play the Stand By game and make Mi-Ma wait at the airport any longer than she needs to.
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
