Concert Through the Takeoff (Part One of my Trip Story)
I know, I take forever to actually get back to this and write up whenever things happen, but I'm a procrastinator and if you expect me to actually do something in a timely manner when I have no set deadline, you are in for many a dissapointing days. First off, the concert was a pleasant surprise for me. I had gone in with low expectations, but it actually was great! I liked all the performers and despite the hearing loss, it was worth it and I'm glad I decided to go, even if I could still use those $50 or $60 that I paid for it. It had a healthy mix of old and young people there and the really young, who felt it neccesary to yell, "Fuck yeah!" repeatedly in an effort to demonstrate how excellently they thought the musicians were doing. I tried to not laugh too much about it, but I still am a little. The worst part about it was that we still had to wait outside a little while before the show, even though we had shown up a bit after the doors were supposed to have opened and it was still wicked cold.
My mom just stayed overnight at my house, rather than driving all the way home just to come back up to the Cities early in the morning, because, well, that would have been idiotic. So after not getting nearly enough sleep, we got up and went over to my aunt's house because she was going with us on our trip down to Laughlin, Nevada too. Plus we were going to leave my car at her place and a friend of hers was going to drop us off at the airport. Since it was after 5:00 AM, the airport was, of course, insanely busy. No tramplings, though quite a few times, I've thought the whole lot were on the verge of a good mass crushing of people.
Luckily my flight was expedited, so we got to go into the short line, the reason being that the direct flight, which I had opted to avoid due to the fact that it's crowded, whereas the flight with a stop in Denver is usually much more open, was delayed until 1 PM, and so they were trying to get anyone from the later flight onto my flight. Less people to be upset that they're going to have to wait until later to fly out. People get really upset, really quickly, even over the slightest delay. I swear some people's blood pressure must be through the roof with how they go off over the smallest problems. Or maybe I'm too calm and need to start freaking out more. More crazed outbursts at employees for the most miniscule inconvieniences and the like. "Bitch, I said ranch dressing on the side, not bleu cheese! Take the whole salad back and let me speak to your manager!"
An exaggeration on my part? Yes, though sadly, it can be not too far off from a few people. Anyways, all three of us got our boarding passes, though I had to help walk the person checking us in through the process, since they were new and hadn't checked in an employee flying on standby before. It was fine and I got a seat, so what do I care? After dropping off our bags, we went upstairs and had a short wait in line to get to security. I made it through without any cavity searches, which should be everyone's goal at those checkpoints, because then, even if you get stopped for the extra screening and get patted down, it's still a victory because you didn't get the "rubber glove treatment". Everybody would be a lot happier, except for the guy who did set off enough suspicion to actually receive a cavity search. Sorry to go for the obvious lame pun, but it's one of those "I can't resist" moments that a nerd, such as myself often has. He probably would find the screening to be a real pain in the ass. I have never heard of it happening while I've been working at the airport, at least not yet. Now let's push ahead, as if I never made the "pain in the ass" comment.
We went on to the gate and it was someone I knew from training class working there, so I went up and we talked for a while. Then I went to sit with my family for a little while, rather than make it seem like I was avoiding them. This was one of the flights without a first class and it wasn't too full, so they just boarded all rows, and I was the first one on the plane. Too bad we ended up waiting an extra hour to try and get as many people from the later, delayed flight onto our plane, so I had plenty of time to enjoy being the first on, since I didn't have a book with me, or anything that would have been sensible to pass time like that.
After I spent the hour watching other people find semi-enjoyable ways to pass the time, our plane finally took the last people we were going to take and we pushed off. I got to enjoy the same old emergency spiel about exits and air masks that makes one feel oh so confident just before take off. I sat back and enjoyed seeing the world slip by as we took off. I had taken the window seat, even though I have the longest legs, just because I love to watch out the window throughout the flight. Goodbye, Twin Cities.
My mom just stayed overnight at my house, rather than driving all the way home just to come back up to the Cities early in the morning, because, well, that would have been idiotic. So after not getting nearly enough sleep, we got up and went over to my aunt's house because she was going with us on our trip down to Laughlin, Nevada too. Plus we were going to leave my car at her place and a friend of hers was going to drop us off at the airport. Since it was after 5:00 AM, the airport was, of course, insanely busy. No tramplings, though quite a few times, I've thought the whole lot were on the verge of a good mass crushing of people.
Luckily my flight was expedited, so we got to go into the short line, the reason being that the direct flight, which I had opted to avoid due to the fact that it's crowded, whereas the flight with a stop in Denver is usually much more open, was delayed until 1 PM, and so they were trying to get anyone from the later flight onto my flight. Less people to be upset that they're going to have to wait until later to fly out. People get really upset, really quickly, even over the slightest delay. I swear some people's blood pressure must be through the roof with how they go off over the smallest problems. Or maybe I'm too calm and need to start freaking out more. More crazed outbursts at employees for the most miniscule inconvieniences and the like. "Bitch, I said ranch dressing on the side, not bleu cheese! Take the whole salad back and let me speak to your manager!"
An exaggeration on my part? Yes, though sadly, it can be not too far off from a few people. Anyways, all three of us got our boarding passes, though I had to help walk the person checking us in through the process, since they were new and hadn't checked in an employee flying on standby before. It was fine and I got a seat, so what do I care? After dropping off our bags, we went upstairs and had a short wait in line to get to security. I made it through without any cavity searches, which should be everyone's goal at those checkpoints, because then, even if you get stopped for the extra screening and get patted down, it's still a victory because you didn't get the "rubber glove treatment". Everybody would be a lot happier, except for the guy who did set off enough suspicion to actually receive a cavity search. Sorry to go for the obvious lame pun, but it's one of those "I can't resist" moments that a nerd, such as myself often has. He probably would find the screening to be a real pain in the ass. I have never heard of it happening while I've been working at the airport, at least not yet. Now let's push ahead, as if I never made the "pain in the ass" comment.
We went on to the gate and it was someone I knew from training class working there, so I went up and we talked for a while. Then I went to sit with my family for a little while, rather than make it seem like I was avoiding them. This was one of the flights without a first class and it wasn't too full, so they just boarded all rows, and I was the first one on the plane. Too bad we ended up waiting an extra hour to try and get as many people from the later, delayed flight onto our plane, so I had plenty of time to enjoy being the first on, since I didn't have a book with me, or anything that would have been sensible to pass time like that.
After I spent the hour watching other people find semi-enjoyable ways to pass the time, our plane finally took the last people we were going to take and we pushed off. I got to enjoy the same old emergency spiel about exits and air masks that makes one feel oh so confident just before take off. I sat back and enjoyed seeing the world slip by as we took off. I had taken the window seat, even though I have the longest legs, just because I love to watch out the window throughout the flight. Goodbye, Twin Cities.