Idiots, Entitlement, and Travelling at Christmas

      I travel at Christmas.  December 27^th is generally the busiest post-Xmas travel day and I always fly on that day.  Unfortunately, this year it also brought a massive storm with tornados to the central section of the United States.  And if you travel from one coast to the other, your connecting flight was somewhere in the weather-affected middle of the country.  I know it’s a busy travel day.  I know there is always the possibility of bad weather resulting in delays and cancellations.  I can accept all of that.  What I can’t accept is the people who don’t seem to understand those simple concepts. 

Here’s what happened: tornados damaged nearly 1500 homes and killed at least 11 people in Dallas—my connection point.  After a 4-hour delay, my flight took off for Dallas. We were at the point where I knew we should be landing when the pilot made an announcement:  “Well folks, we are 70 miles out but they have just shut down DFW and we are in a holding pattern.  We have enough fuel because we planned for this, and hopefully we’ll have an update in 25 minutes or so”.  We flew around for another hour.  Once we landed, the pilot made another announcement:  “I can tell you this now, because we got lucky.  We were heading to Austin when they lifted the holding pattern and let us land.”  Whew!!  So, we made it to Dallas—alive and well. 

Thousands of flights were cancelled, hundreds of thousands travelers were affected.  Everyone was standing in hours-long lines to rebook their flights.  I feel sorry for the airline employees who have to deal with this and I am extra nice to them, since a lot of morons aren’t.  It’s a hard job that I simply could not do without crying or punching someone.  They get blamed for the bad weather conditions all the time.  They are airline employees, not God, so I know it's not their fault. 

Anyhow, I’m standing in a very long line when I see this guy walk up to the counter—bypassing the hundred or so of us in line.  Fortunately, the gate agent pretty much ignored him and he eventually walked away.  An hour later, when I’m maybe 4^th in line now, he comes back. 

He says “I know I’m not going to Hawaii tonight but…” 

The gate agent cut him off and said. “No you aren’t going to Hawaii tonight.”  A bunch of us in line started laughing. at him.

Then he says “Yeah, but I can’t stand in this line for 6 hours.”  Seriously dude??!!  The passenger who was 2^nd in line, says “We’ve all been standing in line.”  Thousands of us have been standing in long lines at every gate in DFW—patiently waiting. Who the hell do you think you are?  Where did you develop this skewed sense of entitlement that makes you think you can go to the front of the line?  I was really hoping someone would punch him.  I wouldn’t start the fight, but I’d certainly join in. 

Then there was the older woman who got her stand-by voucher, but obviously thought the gate agent was wrong by not giving her an assigned seat.  Once again, thousands of flights were cancelled.  If you are being rebooked, you’re going stand-by, especially on an already overcrowded Christmas flight.  So, this woman has to quiz every subsequent passenger and ask if we were given stand-by vouchers.  She shouldn’t have asked me.  I’d been up 20 hours at that point and was not in the mood for idiots.  I snapped at her “Of course I have stand-by.  All the flights were cancelled.  We all have stand-by.”  I forced myself to walk away before I said “Are you really that fucking dumb??”  

Later I was sitting at my stand-by gate, charging my cell phone and overhearing another lady complaining that she had a confirmed seat and now only had a stand-by seat, and that the customer service people didn’t know what they were doing.  After complaining to everyone else, this bitch sits next to me.  I’m praying that she doesn’t say anything to me.  Wrong!  Tells me about her confirmed seat.  Hey, news flash:  we all had confirmed seats on our original flights, you moron!  Then she says she has to go to work on Monday or might get fired.  First of all, your government agency will not fail if you don’t make it to work.  You are replaceable.  Get over yourself!  Secondly, if you work for such inhuman freaks that they would fire you because your flight was cancelled and the airline refused to gamble with your life and take off in tornadic conditions, you should be grateful.  Must be horrible people to work for--go find a new job!  Said she was going to write a long letter to American Airlines.  Really?  What are you going to write?  ‘Dear American Airlines, How dare you create tornados.  It’s your fault the weather is bad.  Why wasn’t I given precedence over all the other people who are in this same situation?’  Seriously, what are you going to write???  Here’s what I would write. 

“Dear American Airlines, Thank you for getting me home safely.  I understand that you can’t fly in severe weather and that’s in my best interest.  Thank you for planning ahead with extra fuel so we could fly around and not end up in a different city, which would have made the delay even longer.  Thank you for the pleasant attitude of your employees—even when dealing with so many unpleasant customers.  I especially loved the gate agent in Pittsburgh who said she was looking forward to having a martini when this was all over.  I hope she enjoys that drink when she finally gets it.  It’s really unnecessary for your pilots and flight attendants to apologize for the weather, but they always do. Thank you for all of it—flying is an adventure.  See you next time!”

My Christmas Wish List

My Christmas Wish List

• To never have to hear about or see Donald Trump, Bruce Jenner or any Kardashian ever again.
• A miracle cure for ALS—as fast as possible.
• That slow-ass men who can’t hit a golf ball more than 100 yards stop playing from the blues—especially when they are the foursome in front of me.
• A raise, or a new job that actually pays me enough to live in Southern California.
• For people to stop texting at the gym while sitting on weight equipment and machines.
• For everyone to love Mother Earth and reduce, reuse and recycle.
• For the NRA to fold up and disband.
• To finally lose that last 5 pounds.
• That our impending El Nino causes only minimal damage and no deaths.
• To find someone to share my life with.
• That gas prices stay under $2.50 forever.
• For more laughter and fewer tears around the world.
• For the Browns to trade Johnny Manziel so that I never see him in Brown and Orange again.
• Clean water for the 700 million-plus people worldwide who currently lack access to it.
• An end to ‘reality-show’ television.
• Peace—before it’s too late.

Life as a Browns Fan

For the most part, it's a painful existence being a die-hard fan of the Cleveland Browns. The once-storied franchise (before I was born) has become mired in mediocrity. Ever since devil-incarnate Art Modell pulled the rug out from under us by moving the team to Baltimore, we haven't been able to put together a winning season. There are plenty of excuses: Poor draft choices from the beginning: I mean, who drafts a QB from a basketball school? Who follows that up with a QB who is old enough to retire on draft day? Who picks a short guy with questionable arm strength and lots of off-field issues? Yep, the Browns. This is a reflection of bad management and lack of football knowledge. I'm not sure the people in charge in Cleveland actually know all that much about football. Then, of course, there are injuries, but all teams deal with those. We currently have a QB who everybody says is one of the toughest guys they know. He has sacrificed himself physically this season without getting any love in return. Lots of excuses that all teams in any pro sport deal with at various times. Why can't we break out of this vicious cycle? The shocking thing is that it is statistically impossible to be as bad as the Browns have been since we came back to the NFL in 1999. Statistically IMPOSSIBLE! Many teams come up with unbelievable ways to win games. We come up with unbelievable ways to lose games. Did you catch last night's match-up with the Ravens? I watched it at my usual Brownsbackers bar. It was a relatively good game, with back and forth scoring, and a decent look at our 2nd string QB, who threw an awesome long yardage pass for a TD. The Browns came from behind to tie the game late in the 4th quarter. I was confident we were going to win with a field goal. Worst case scenario was going into overtime. Holy crap--how many times is there actually a blocked kick? Believe me, it's not that often. But if some freak occurrence is going to happen, it's going to happen to the Browns. That damn blocked kick was run back for a touchdown as time ran out. But, you know what happened after that? After everyone was done swearing and bemoaning our bad luck once again? We all said "Hey, see you next Sunday!" Because we are Browns fans and we'll be back. It's what we do. Through thick and thin, in good times and in bad, for better or worse, till death do us part. And maybe not even then, since I fully expect to go to a heaven where the Browns never lose. Hopefully, I won't have to wait that long. And some day, before I die, we'll win a Superbowl. And it's going to be freaking glorious! See you on Sunday. Go Browns!!

The End of the Innocence

I went to the movies with a friend today--a place you go to escape for a little while. Our purses were searched. Just over a week after Paris, so I expected it, but it's still sad--this world we live in now. I think our innocence as Americans ended in April of 1995 in Oklahoma City. Every Federal building in this country has cement barriers to keep bomb-laden vehicles at a safe distance. And we don't even notice those barriers anymore--that's the sad part. We voluntarily put up barriers. I visited my high school when I was in town recently and had to ring a buzzer and identify myself and who I was there to see in order to get through the locked doors. We voluntarily lock those doors. I'm not saying we shouldn't, but this is our new normal. And obviously it's not just here. If I say Mumbai, London, Madrid, Paris or Mali, you all know what happened in each of those places. If I mention a suicidal pilot in the alps, a Russian flight from Egypt, a youth camp on a Norwegian island, or bible study in Charleston, you know about those things too. There is no chance of an innocence in the world anymore. I am grateful to have grown up in the 70s and 80s. I think it was a more innocent time. We had pet rocks and mood rings. I could smuggle a 6-pack of beer into Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Maybe I look back through rose-colored glasses. Maybe I just think it was better in a pre-internet world without a 24/7 news cycle. Television used to go off in the middle of the night, for god's sake! Can you imagine that now? I know there have always been bad people: Cain, Judas, John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, Hitler. But we still had our freedoms: no one would look in my purse, and I could actually take one to an NFL game. Can't do that now. Our new normal. In that sense we have allowed "them" to win--we have voluntarily given up some of our freedoms. Kids today will never know what it is like to go to a baseball game without passing through a metal detector, they will never walk into an unlocked school, they will never be able to sneak beer into an NFL game. My favorite quote is from Benjamin Franklin--and I'm sure he couldn't even imagine how prescient these words would be today: 'Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security.' As Thanksgiving Week dawns for us, we should be grateful for what we have, and pray we don't voluntarily give up what we have left. Peace!

Travel. Learn. Grow.

Once again, a terrorist group has united the world. Today, we are all Parisian. Who knows yet who we are going to be next time? Those of you who read my blog know that I am a news freak. I can't live without my newspaper. I'm addicted to my local news stations, the Internet news, CNN, BBC and Al Jazeera. I always think I've seen the worst of humanity, but every time something new happens, I realize the bad guys keep upping the game. As horrible as this sounds, I can understand a crime of passion, becoming so enraged with someone you know and love, then, sick as it is, killing them in the heat of the moment. What I cannot comprehend is the depravity it takes to walk into a concert hall, a restaurant, any public place, and indiscriminately kill innocent strangers. You don't know them. Maybe someone was a sympathizer with you. Maybe someone was going to cure a disease. Maybe someone would write the song that would touch your heart. Maybe someone was meant to be your friend, your lover, your soulmate. You'll never know. Instead, the world grieves again. Stay close to home this weekend in Paris, let the authorities do their thing. But don't stay down for long. That's what the terrorists want. They want us to be fearful and voluntarily give up our freedoms. Don't give in. Don't cancel your travel plans. And if you don't have any yet, Paris is lovely in the spring. Fight back by living your life. Travel to foreign places. Learn about different cultures. Grow as a human being, as a citizen of the planet we all call home. In spite of it all, it is still a beautiful world. Go out and see it! Pray for Paris. Pray for all of us. But most of all, don't let the fuckers win!

Christmas and Starbucks

For the last few weeks I have completely ignored all the hullabaloo about Starbucks red cups. I don't drink coffee, so I didn't think it was much of my business. But it just didn't go away so I finally decided to Google it to find out what all the fuss was about. Some guy claims Starbucks hates Christmas and is taking Jesus out of Christmas because they removed symbols like reindeer and snowflakes from their winter seasonal cup designs. Seriously? Are you kidding me? What do reindeer and snowflakes have to do with the baby Jesus? Reindeer live in Siberian Asia, Northern Canada, Lapland, Alaska & Northern Russia, not Bethlehem. And to the best of my knowledge, it doesn't snow in Bethlehem either. Those symbols have nothing to do with the birth of Christ. This isn't about some huge corporation taking Christ out of Christmas, this is about waste-of-time stupidity. How does this crap go viral? Why do we give these people their fifteen minutes of fame? I personally don't care if someone says "Merry Christmas", "Seasons Greetings", or Happy Holidays" to me--it's just nice that they say anything at all. In the grand scheme of things, does it really matter? People need to let go of this stuff and concentrate on important things, on the real meaning of Christmas: volunteer at a soup kitchen or a homeless shelter, paint the swings at a park, adopt a pet, or clean up the beach. Visit your parents, hug your kids, hang out with your friends. Honor God's creations: our planet and its inhabitants--well, except the ones who are apoplectic about plain red cups.

Blogging Again--After a Year!

Writing things down and getting your thoughts on paper is important. It's good for you. It stimulates the brain. So why haven't I written anything on my blog for nearly a year? I've been way too lazy. I'm in a rut. I've been too complacent in so many areas of my life. That's not right and I need to fix it. So I'm looking for inspirational quotes (thanks Pinterest!), trying to find the power in change, and realizing I'm the only one who can make things better for myself. No one else is going to do it for me, although that would make it so much easier. I need to convince myself that staying on my current course is worse than facing the unknown. I have to take that leap of faith. In order to do that, I need regain confidence and get some brain power back--and that means writing. I'm setting a goal to blog at least once a week--and in an election year, that shouldn't be too hard. Lots of fodder for my rants. Stay tuned for my first new entry tomorrow.