Journal

March 27th, 2004

Flying Home... Maybe

     Well, we get to Dulles in the allotted time... right? Oh boy... I hate Dulles International Airport....let me tell you why... (Btw... NEVER fly into this airport!!)...Well...First there was a line damned near to being out of the airport to get TO... not THROUGH... but TO the security check

points....

     So I'm looking at my watch... I have an hour and a half before my flight leaves....30 minutes later... I'm still waiting to get to the checkpoint....45 minutes... I can see it now... 1 hour... I'm finally at the check point... what is this preoccupation with Homeland Security and not liking people to wear shoes? Well... I have to remove my shoes... take my laptop out of its case... boot it up (thank god the battery was charged...) They’re freaking out cause I have a wireless optical mouse... it runs off batteries... it blinks when it's not against a flat surface... THIS IS NORMAL... but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO... Homeland Security thinks it's a bomb...

     I'm thinking... do I look like a terrorist? I'm a 30 year old WHITE female dressed in business casual attire... yeah... I'm a big friggin terrorist!!! The only thing I would do to terrorize the airlines is not fly them... maybe make my displeasure known... but definitely NOT blow anything up... sheesh... I'm not suicidal... or homicidal for that matter!!! ... Well... not yet anyway... LOL

     So they want me to disassemble this thing so they can check it... I'm like... Christ....I got through Newark without this baloney....mental note... TAKE THE BATTERIES OUT OF YOUR MOUSE IF YOU FLY ANYWHERE....so after that they're eyeing my external hard drive and DVD writer dubiously... So... I have to pull both of these things out of their external casings...meanwhile I have 15 minutes to get to my flight... I haven't even checked in yet....and then they want to test everything with a piece of material and a big long metal thingy... (no clue)... something about making sure they're not bombs LOL...I would think at this point... considering I'm still there (thank god they didn't want me to disassemble my cell phone LMFAO)...that its a safe bet that I don't have anything that will go boom... aside from my temper... which at this point is wearing very thin....

     So finally, I have 10 minutes to assemble everything... put it all away and get my friggin shoes on... then I need to check in at the counter and check my baggage....thank god they didn't want me to disassemble my baggage on... LOL... So I'm irritable... racing as quickly as I can to get to the check in line...oh boy... this line is a mile long... and I'm thinking... how does anyone travel with this baloney? Well finally 10 minutes later I get to the check in person... I check in... they can't find my reservation or the fact that I've already bought my ticket... and they're telling me my flight has already left... oh wait... it's delayed... I'm thinking... well, maybe I'll manage to catch it.....so... finally I get my ticket... apparently this lady was spelling challenged... had to spell my last name 4 times... and it was right in front of her on my ID... sheesh!!!! Well... I'm like; I need to check some bags... she's like... we don't do that here... I'm thinking... you've already made me miss my flight lady... WTF? She points to another line that's a bazillion miles long... I'm like... oh hell!!... (I cannot stress enough ... NEVER FLY IN OR OUT OF DULLES!!!)....

     So I get into this other line... I'm grumpy and grousing and mumbling under my breath... okay... maybe not under my breath, but I had damned good reason to be extremely displeased... so this airport official walks up... I'm thinking... oh great... I'm going to get into trouble for calling them a bunch of inbred morons... sheesh... what next? So he asks me for my ticket... I hand it to him... he's like...oh... your flight has left.. I'm like... no. the lady at the counter said it was delayed...he's like... well I don't think it'll be delayed for very long... why did you get here so late? .I'm like... I didn't... y'all kept holding me up... then I tried to explain as calmly as possible... so he's like... oh... I apologize for the inconvience... I'm thinking... naw... no inconvience at all Sir... sheesh... I'm not a friggin saint... I'm not pleased... I'm definitely not very cordial at this point... so I'm like, I just want to get to my flight and go home... I will never fly your airline again... he takes me up to where the guards are checking baggage... (AGAIN!!!)... and hands them my ticket... my id... in front of all the other people....so I'm listening to a lot of people getting really grumpy behind me... and trying my best to ignore it... because I'm grumpy too... well...he escorts me the 50 bazillion miles to my gate....which is on the OTHER side of the airport where my itty bitty plane is... I make it there 45 minutes late... the plane isn't even at the err... dock? I check to make sure it hasn't left... it hadn't...

     So I sit down... breathing heavy and irritable... meanwhile, another 45 minutes pass... they still haven't called my flight...I overhear one of the err what are they called... airline personnel talking to another... stating that the tires were bad... that was the cause for the delay... I'm thinking... didn't it land not that long ago? What if the bad tires had popped during landing? YIKES! Got to love United Airlines.... so FINALLY... for an hour and 10 minute flight... I arrive an hour and a half late...this plane is a bit bigger... and doesn't have props... thank god... they actually have baggage compartments... whoo hoo! So my roommate is waiting...I had called him from Dulles and let him know about the delay and the cause of it... he wasn't pleased... but I did get picked up... thank god for cell phones LOL...