I had a plan of sorts for last Thursday, an idea of how things would go on my way to Florida. It went something like this:
- Sleep in a bit, which is always a bonus.
- Finish packing and getting ready.
- Friend picks me up and drops me at the airport.
- Get through security without trouble, and in plenty of time because I am That Way about travel, especially planes these days.
- Knit and wait.
- Get on my (direct) flight to Florida, where I can while away the time with eating (brought my lunch) and knitting.
- Be met by my mother at the airport around 3:30.
- Proceed to nearby outlet mall for a bit of shopping.
- Home, and dinner with my parents.
- Hang out and chat before bedtime.
Less than an hour before the plane was supposed to leave, a not-really-apologetic-enough man announced that it was canceled.
Don't line up at the gate, he added quickly, after not really explaining why the flight was canceled at all. Go down there, to the service desk. They've been warned!
So, to pick up where plans changed:
6. Got in line at service desk (about 15 people in front of me, many more behind).
7. Got out cell phone and called toll-free number.
8. Twenty-two minutes later, I'm booked on a 2:30ish flight to JFK, and a 6:30ish flight to Florida. Best they can do, at least it's still today. The woman was very nice, gave good customer service, made me feel less annoyed by the whole situation: props to her. (By the way, apparently what she could do was greatly enhanced by the fact that I had, for once in my life, not checked baggage. I don't know what further hoops people with checked bags had to jump through.)
9. Leave line, which has moved forward about 3 people, and go back out through security to print new boarding passes.
10. Sit down and eat lunch, grumpily.
11. Back through security.
12. Sit at new gate and knit. Got the heel done on my first sock!
13. Cheer quietly when plane arrives. Progress!
14. A little late, but we do board and eventually take off. I'm in a middle seat, not having been willing to pay extra* for a better seat on the short flight. I'm a little worried about the couple behind me with an infant and a toddler; they have my sympathies, but I'm not sure I want to be sitting near them. When they start debating with the boy about his seat belt, I put on my headphones and turn up the volume.
*Which I think they should waive when they are rescheduling someone from a canceled flight. You're inconveniencing me and now you want to charge me for a better seat? Nice, I don't think.
15. Flight is uneventful until we reach the descent stage, when you have to put your seat belt back on. I don't know how the parents handled little Arden on the ascent, but on the descent at least, he had to wear his seat belt and he Did Not Want To. It seems that this was the first time in his life that he was forced to do something against his wishes. He screamed, at the top of his lungs, barely pausing for breath, for about 20 minutes, or until we (finally, finally) reached the gate. NOOOOOO! DADDY! NOOOOOO! NO WANT TO! Over and over and over. Even through the music, it was agonizing. I don't think I've ever been happier to get off a plane. (And I heard barely a peep from the baby the whole time. Trouble never comes from the direction you think, does it?)
16. An hour or two at JFK, which was chaos. Is it always like that? And it was warm and humid inside. What the...?
17. Plane arrives late, loads late, leaves late. At this point, I'm just happy to be going. I also paid extra (see rant below) for an exit row window seat, knowing I would need it by that point in the day.
18. Arrived at 10:30 PM, or seven-plus hours late, and lucky to be there at all.
Me Rant Now. I admit to being bitter that they charged me extra for the exit row, after canceling my flight and leaving me drifting in the wind, though it was still worth it. But hello, Jet Blue?
It's time to stop marketing yourself as better than other airlines. Stop calling it "jetting" and face facts: you're much like all the rest. You may not be worse, but you aren't better.
You charge extra to check a second bag.
You charge extra for seats with more leg room.
You cancel a full flight and tell the people you've just screwed that probably most of them won't be getting where they paid you to go that day.
You are not providing superior service, in my experience. In fact, you cheated me out of half a day with my parents, and on a three-day trip, that's significant. Considering that the last time I flew your airline, my flight was, oh, three or four hours late, it's amazing I'm even considering flying with you again. I know that you can't control the weather, but you could anticipate it (gosh, thunderstorms in summer, who could have predicted that?) and try to get planes where you need them.
Oh, and while I'm whining? I also did something to my right shoulder on Thursday, there was no event or sudden ow, but it's been bothering me ever since. The pain is diminishing, but still there. Go away, pain! Let me sleep in peace.
Anything else? I want to get it all out. Oh! Yesterday morning, all grumpy about the need to get up and get ready for work, I spilled some crackers on the floor. I bent, grumbling, to clean them up, then straightened in such a miraculously coordinated way that I whacked my head on the edge of the table. Yes, hard. I have a dent. Well, not exactly a dent, but a sore, sore spot on my head. So graceful.
I think that's all the whining, moaning, and carrying on for today. I mean, if I tried to tell you all the many, many, tiny, irritating, pissant little reasons why my commute home was horrible tonight, we'd be here until sometime tomorrow, and no one wants that, me least of all.
Anyone still here? Because I am very happy about the knitting I got done. Yes! Happy! I know, who am I all of a sudden?
But the sock was perfect in-the-airport knitting, and shows progress, which I tried unsuccessfully to capture.
Pan was naturally tempted by the yarn, the heel doesn't even show, and Blogger un-rotated the photo. Some days...
The blanket was good on-the-plane knitting, and thanks to the delay in my return flight*, it's almost done.
Yes, almost done, and it isn't even August until Friday. Whew!
*We took off just about on time, but diverted a bit to come in after thunderstorms hit Boston. I've flown from FL to Boston enough to know that we don't usually fly toward Michigan and then over upstate New York. But only about an hour late, pfft! That's nothing!
So it's not all grinching here. Just mostly.
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