I am on a plane right now, flying to Amsterdam. Why I am going to the Netherlands, I will address later, but I wanted to share with you my experience sitting in coach, flying next to a screaming baby. This morning, I was looking forward to my trip. It is the second trip out of the country this month. I spent a bit of time in Brazil earlier this month. (Oh! I need to share that, too..). The thought of being an international "jet setter" is romantic enough. Many of my friends and family think its amazing I get to travel a bit. Some of them have never been too far outside of California at all and definately not outside the US. You have to admit, getting the chance to see the different countries and cultures is amazing. But, getting there is a royal pain the ass. Especially for those pre-September 11th travelers.
Getting to LAX this afternoon on the 405...it was a breeze. Getting parking: no problem. Getting to the terminal: again, no problem. Smooth sailing, right? Well, all the smoothness stopped as soon as I entered the terminal. Ticket lines for self services were long, the security check line moved at a snail's pace, but I got through. Then I entered the line for the gate security. You know--the area where you need to remove your shoes and throw out your liquid items. In front of me was a lady who decided to take a plane trip with her 1 month old, 2 year old and a dog! She caused all kinds of issues and the line just stopped dead cold with her for at least twenty minutes. Meanwhile, the baby is crying, she is struggling with her extensive carryone collection of baby accessories and trying to make sure she keeps an eye on her mobile toddler.
So, I get through the security checkpoint and she goes off to Virgin Atlantic and I feel utterly relieved that she won't be joining me on my flight to Amsterdam. Dodged that bullet! Well, luck would have it that I end up sitting next to another woman, flying solo with her toddler and infant who is starting to act fussy before we even leave. Long story short... baby starts screaming as soon as we take off and an hour later, screaming continues. Meanwhile, the entire cabin is having fantasies about tossing the baby out the window.
I know, that is mean, cruel and just plain terrible, but I am just being honest.
The blog worthy aspect of this story is this:
All travel is optional. People have a choice when it comes to international air travel. They don't have to go--its all optional. So why do people choose to take extremely long trips, knowing the air port system are a total cluster f*&%k by them selves with infants? I don't understand it at all. Why cant they wait 6 months--even a year before they choose to commune in an aluminum tube 30,000 feet in the air. And why do they choose to to this totally alone?
I know... I sound like an insensitive bastard, but even those of you with kids out there probably can think of a time when you were stuck on a plane in coach, near a screaming infant. It's not the baby I am writing about; its the adult that put the baby in the situation and subjected us to the outcome.