No Place Like Home for the Holidays

I know that I have often whined about my hatred of flying but you are the ones who keep coming back to the blog, so deal with it. I hate flying. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it.

It's not as if anything new happened to me today in my journey from Jacksonville, Florida back home to KC. I just can't comprehend why no one was working today. The only answer received was, "it's the holidays". That's like going to a freaking retail store and no one is there to ring you up! You knew the job sucked when you took it! You knew you would have to work the holidays! Seriously, do you take a job in retail and then go, what? I have to work Christmas Eve - but I have shopping to do! There had to have been some other (god only knows what they are) perks to entice you into taking what is quite possibly the most thankless job on the freaking planet of gate check person. While I agree, your job sucks, it is still your job and I don't think people appreciate you taking out your hatred of said job on them. (Today I did not have the pleasure of experiencing the onslaught of meanness usually imposed upon me, but I was witness to others experiencing that joy).

Also, have you noticed how belligerant flight attendants have gotten about paying attention during their saftey briefing? I was on a United flight recently where the head flight attendant actually said, we are not going to take off until everyone takes out their saftey cards from the seat back pocket in front of them and follows along! Are you kidding me?! I'd like to hear what my odds are of surviving a plane crash in a water landing. I'd like to hear what my odds are of being able to calmly put on my floatation device prior to impact and ONLY THEN inflating it upon safely exiting the plane!

I recently watched a program on surviving a plane crash and they reviewed the number one reason why more people do NOT safely exit the plane after impact (i.e. survive), other than suffering from hysteria - because they can't remember how to unbuckle their seat belt! Apparently because all planes have the "insert the metal tab into the metal buckle" apparatuse and all of our cars have "push the red button to release the metal tab" apparatuse, no one can remember in times of SHEER PANIC how to lift up on the metal buckle! So, if they know this why aren't they modifying new planes with car-like seatbelts?

But I digress. Today, I was able to upgrade myself to First Class for the Dallas to KC leg. It is my policy to get the bulkhead window seat whenever possible, in spite of the tradeoff of having to stow my bags in the overhead bin, as I like being able to prop my feet up. I was surrounded by America's finest in uniform...5 Army kids. For those of you that may not know, I'm an Air Force brat...The Colonel took us all over the world and back again...I have serious respect for our men and women in uniform. And I won't turn this into a political rant to talk about how they are risking their lives for a stupid winless war...but again, I digress. These days people have a PC thing about thanking the troops. I've overheard (as eavesdropping is my favorite hobby) that some of them find it embarrassing, others like it, whatever. These guys behind me where making fun of the people who thanked them! AND! We all know I'm a HUGE potty mouth and am trying, unsuccessfully, to break my bad habit, but they were LOUDLY cursing! But I guess I should cut them some slack as I don't have RPGs flying at me on a daily basis.

Whew!!! On to more fun topics. It was my niece's first Christmas...poor kid, she was cutting her first tooth. So, not a happy Christmas Eve for The Peanut. But Mom and I had a good time playing with her, the dogs and the cats and hanging out with the brother and SiL. But, as always, so happy to be home.