08.11.06

Shampoo, Toothpaste & Lotion Free

Posted in Travel at 5:45 pm by delipics

My sister asked, “So how did it go?”

As recommended by the TSA, I planned to get to the airport three hours before take-off. I sure am glad I booked an afternoon flight instead of a morning one. I got there without a hitch and all seemed quiet outside of the terminal. No line of cars with people furiously unloading, no milling crowds, just a couple of guys smoking. I go through the sliding glass doors and immediately encounter - THE LINE.

THE LINE is snaking all the way from the check-in counter to about 18 feet from the entrance. Not a good sign. I picked the day when some type of huge student trip is flying back to Tokyo . Even though I had been watching the news and hearing the reports of delays, my brain froze and I thought, “This can’t be right.” I am hoping there is another line, and I just have to figure out where that is. I walk back and forth — maybe I can still do the easy check- in? I’m looking at the signs, I’m looking for a helpful airline employee - nothing. I ask this young women at a nearby frequent flier booth if I can just do easy check-in, and she takes the time to get off her cell phone to answer my question. (I will not rant here about people on the cell phone who work customer service jobs - how about the chick at the grocery check-out who was delaying the customer line so she could text-message?!!!) She says, “Oh yeah, sure, no problem!” and she’s back on her phone.

I am sceptical but I go to the easy check-in computer and start the process. Usually, the computer asks if one has any baggage to check-in but this time it did not. I decide this cannot be good. I get my boarding pass and look around again expectantly, as if someone will magically appear and tell me what to do. I resign myself to getting on THE LINE, especially before it gets any longer. Who am I to think I can triumph over THE LINE? Accept your fate and join THE LINE.

About five minutes pass, I am relativey comfortable, eating my blueberry muffin that I bought earlier, and my luck changes. An employee comes over to the end of THE LINE and asks if anyone has e-tickets. I do, I do! I follow her, I am first in line. Yeah! I get my baggage checked- in without a hitch. Yeah! I head for the security section and there is NO line. Yeah! I zip though it and head for the gate. Yeah!

And now I have three hours to keep myself occupied. *Sigh* Accept your fate and sit in THE CHAIR. Have sympathy for your other traveller who are going through the same situation, especially those families with young children who are running back and forth. THE CHAIR is my friend for the next three hours. I am one with THE CHAIR.

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