Flying during the holidays
Ever since we missed our flight to Vegas a few months ago, Clodagh and I have been fantastic about getting to the airport early and enjoying the newly redone concourses at Sea-Tac... And, when you try to check-in online and it tells you you can't assign yourself a seat, it's another good motivating factor. For my Sea-Tac -> Dallas (and vice-versa) flight for the trip home for Christmas, I couldn't get a seat when I checked in. Had to go see the gate agent. This, as you might guess was not a confidence-building message to be getting on the start of a many-hour journey.
Eventually, after everyone else has boarded and three calls for people to give up their seats because the flight is oversold, I get a seat on the flight. Back of the bus. Middle seat. Between two smelly folks speaking spanish across me for the first ten minutes. Luckily, right as I was about to ask if either would like to switch seats so they could continue their conversation one went to sleep and the other started reading. And then the lady in front of me tried to put her seat back. Once, twice, thrice - each time it hit my knees without moving anywhere... So, she turns around looks at me, looks at my knees and says "I think that my seat won't go back because it's hitting your knees." Really? What gave you that idea? "Yes, I know." I say. Then, she has the gall to ask "Can I just put it down a little bit?" Apparently I look like I have adjustable legs - I'll just shrink them a little bit. "No, not really." Is the nicest response I can manage. Sheesh. Somedays it'd be great to be short.