The Trip Back Home

As nice as Colorado Springs was, including the hospitality displayed by the Inside Flyer folks and the Sheraton Colorado Springs staff, I was anxious to return to Austin. All I have to do is leave there for a short time to really appreciate the city in which I live. There’s just no place like it that I have ever been to. So, I woke up around 9:30 AM, packed and headed out to the lobby to meet Chris at our appointed time. Went to the front desk to pick up the Industry Impact award and thanked them for doing their part in our having won another 12 Freddies. I wrapped the award in some bubble wrap and placed in my carry-on. Then I sat in another one of their wonderfully comfortable lobby chairs and read USA Today until Chris came to pay the bill.

Afterwards, we were off to the airport and, gentleman that he is, Chris dropped me off at the departure point before turning in the rental car. I checked in using the AA Self Check-in, but needed some help from the attendant since I really did not understand it at first. Chris was close behind and we proceeded to the security gate. As I rounded the corner, I saw about 200 military people all dressed in fatigues. I asked one, “Are you all waiting to get through security?” He said, “No, we’re waiting for some of our folks who are returning from overseas.” Whew. If they had all been waiting for security, I wasn’t sure we were going to make the flight.

As it was, we were able to weave through the crowd to the security gate. Unfortunately, I forgot to remove my pith helmet and the rivets in it set off the alarm. I was asked to step aside for wanding and a pat-down. No problem. After the pith helmet was removed, I passed through with flying colors. Then the woman screening bags brought my bag over. “There is something in your bag that we’d like to check.” It was then that I realized that the award, being Tiffany crystal, was likely showing up on their screen as a huge black object. Sure enough. They took it out, confirmed what it was, and had me put it back. Still, I wondered…this thing weighs about ten pounds. It could probably be considered a bludgeon-type weapon, so I was probably lucky they let me onboard with it.

After going to the gate, I decided to check out what was available at the lounge for breakfast. I was able to buy a couple of bagels, a salad, and a Coke to hold me over. After I finished, Chris took a turn and by the time he got back, we were the last two on the plane. No problem for me anyway. I prefer for the aisles to be cleared before boarding, but while we are on the subject of boarding, it seems weird the way AA does it. They board by groups these days, which is fine, but the order is strange. First on seem to be first class. No problem here. I mean you take care of these guys first and since there are fewer of them, they get settled in quickly. But then, they seem to board front to back. Wouldn’t it make better sense to board back to forward? That way, you don’t have people stopping in front of you storing their carry-ons in the overhead storage areas and jockeying for their seat. It’s bad enough that the aisle people always get to their seats first, which causes them to have to get up to allow you in to the window and middle seats, but the order of boarding they use now just seems to aggravate the situation even more. I guess it’s not that big a deal. It just seemed strange to me anyway.

Regardless, there were no surly flight attendants or delays on this flight to Dallas. I even managed to nap a bit after the refreshment 100-yard dash was completed. We got off and went to our next departure gate, which was about five gates away this time.

For reasons that are obvious if you’ve ever met me in person, I buy two seats when I fly. Not that I take up two seats, mind you, but I definitely take more than one. Yep, I’m the guy that everyone dreads being seated next to. I can see it in your faces when I come down the aisle. (oh God, please don’t let him be assigned to the seat next to me!) Anyway, we check in and the gate attendant gives me two seats not in the same aisle. I tell her why I bought two seats to begin with. She says, “I’m sorry. All we have is middle seats left. You will have to check with the people who are going to be in charge of assigning seats for your flight. They will be here in 30 minutes.” Great. I try to be considerate to my fellow passengers and now somebody is going to be wearing me all the way to Austin. Thank God it is a short flight.

About 15 minutes later, someone new begins manning the gate so I take this opportunity to let him know what’s up. He says, “Wow. That kind of defeats the purpose of buying two seats, doesn’t it?” He shows the seat assignments to a colleague and she says, “This is going to be a full flight, but we have to do some re-arranging anyway. I’ll take these and see what I can do for you.” Very nice.

So we wait. We watch the crews service a plane at the next gate, which as it turns out is a pretty smooth process. Chris and I are both grateful we don’t have to do this for a living, however. I can’t even imagine doing this job in Texas in August. I used to be a commercial greenhouse grower/manager before coming to Starwood, so I know what the heat in the summer here can do to you physically. After about 40 minutes, I am called up to the check-in counter. They hand me two new seat assignments – a middle seat and an window seat, and they're in the same aisle. Thank you, AA, for coming through for everyone!

Soon, we are boarding and on our way to Austin. Boarding, I come to my aisle. Sure enough, the aisle person is in her seat with the widest eyes I have ever seen. I say, “Excuse me, Ma’am. I bought the two seats next to you and I’m going to occupy at least 1 and ¼ of them.” With a sigh of relief, she was up like a shot and I wedged myself in for the flight home, which proved uneventful except that the refreshment cart 100-yard dash was even more frantic than usual.

Home Sweet Home

Down the concourse to the downstairs baggage claim, I went. I had already exchanged well-wishes with Chris, so he could move at a pace that was more comfortable for him. He had really been a prince among men to travel with and I didn’t want to hold him up any longer.

I waited for the bag to arrive in the middle of the carousel behind a plexiglass barrier. There was a guy standing just to the right of center that was not behind this barrier. I saw my bag and said to him, “Excuse me,” but he didn’t move. So, I reached in front of him and picked up my bag, which caused him to look at me like it was going to be an issue. My guess is that once he got a full view of what he was about to encounter, he thought better of it. I just left without saying anything more. I was out the terminal as quickly as I could and soon, the wife came into view. Man, was she a sight for sore eyes.

Overall, it was a pretty good trip and I vowed that it wouldn’t be another seven years before I flew again. And the rest of Holy Week and Pascha? It was glorious. But then, isn’t it always?

Sincerely,

William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]

[This message has been edited by Starwood Lurker (edited 05-08-2003).]