I just read an article about American Airlines that bummed me out. They will now be charging a $15 "Checked Baggage" fee for any and every bag that you check. The only way to avoid this fee is to carry on your luggage. But with all the ridiculous airport rules these days, this seems nearly impossible. Specifically the rules applying to liquids. Call me crazy, but I simply cannot fit my face wash, foundation, perfume, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, lip gloss, hair spray, lotion, and moisturizer into one measly ziplock bag.
In any case, it got me thinking. Do you remember the days of airports being glorious and exciting places? When you could walk about freely and wait for your loved ones anywhere you please? When people didn't look at you and assume you're a terrorist?
Granted, I've flown a lot in the past couple years. I hardly remember what it was like to have a good time in the airport. I remember whenever either one of my parents would fly somewhere - I would get terribly excited to pick them up. I'd wait right by the door (where they were exiting off the plane) and try my hardest to look down the corridor to see them. I loved airport reunions!
And now, we circle around and around the terminal in our cars - being careful not to stop for too long or else you will hear the shrill whistle of the guards who are out to ruin your day (or let you park for more than 3 seconds). We put our toiletries in little ziplock bags and have them inspected for explosives. We take our shoes, belts, jewelry and jackets off to go through metal detectors manned by really grumpy people. We hope and pray that our bags dont weigh over 50 lbs or we will pay a hefty fee.
And heaven forbid you lose your ID whilst on vacation! I did that once and it was not pretty. They make you wait in all sorts of special lines and give you special stamps and they scrutinize you and distrust you. Its really quite terrible.
The moral of the story is: I hate airports. I hate flying.
And this is just one more reason why.
3 comments:
i wholeheartedly agree with this. and never watch the movie catch me if you can cause it'll just depress you even more...
As I count down the hours until I get to board a jetBlue flight from LGB to the East Coast this really hits home. Granted I can be there a few minutes before my flight, and leave from an airport that seems to have no business sending flights across the country.
Flying used to be fun, exciting, refreshing. Now it is a pain that we just try to fight back it's day ruining-ness to a tolerable level. I for one will not be flying American ever again, and hopefully someday, somehow, some of these people get the business model right.
Flying is for pigeons.
A friend and I used to hand around the gates and watch people greet their loved ones. It was awesome, we'd spend hours at LAX in the middle of the night and cry.
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