I'm going to Disney World!

No, not me. But it's part of the story.

One of the reasons we fly on Delta pretty much exclusively is because the rewards program is so good. We get upgrades to first class on most of our trips, which is nice both for the extra room and the convenience.

So it was this last weekend that we had seats in first class for our trip to New York. While waiting at the gate house in Kansas City, I noticed a girl with probably her dad who was standing near us – she was really chatty, the kind you know comes from being nervous or a little keyed up. So I asked her if this was her first plane trip. No, she said, it was her second but her dad had flown a lot so he was the expert. He sort of rolled his eyes so I’m guessing he hadn’t actually flown all that much but it was pretty cute to see her belief in him. They were on their way to Disney World and she was just all kinds of excited about the trip.

Right about the, the gate agent called for families with small children to board, and she asked why they were going on the plane. I walked through the process with her (families with small children, those who need more time to board, first class and then by the zone numbers on the tickets) and she nodded. This was a very rare flight in that there was only one family that pre-boarded and none who needed extra time. So the gate agent called for first class. As I stepped up to the gate, she asked in utter surprise, “Are you in first class??” Yes, I said, I am. Her eyes got huge. I think she was kind of amazed that real people sit in first class.

I hope she had a great time in Disney World.

Kids these days

Yesterday’s flight from Boston to Minneapolis was utterly full. When that happens, overhead bin space is precious and you can see some ugly behavior.

I was in the aisle seat (three across), row 10 and because I fly all the time and have status with Delta, I boarded in Zone 1. Without status, I’d have been boarding in Zone 3 or 4. Zone 1 But boarding in Zone 1 meant I had plenty of overhead space.

As the plane filled I realized people were tripping over a bag sitting in the aisle by the man in front of me who was standing. He was older than I am, maybe even in his 70s and he looked really uncertain as though he were trying to do something. But people kept coming down the aisle and getting hung up over that suitcase.

So I asked him if he needed help putting it into the bin—it looked like there was room across the aisle for it. Imagine my surprise when the man in the window seat ahead of me spoke up and said it was his bag.

Uh what? He said there wasn’t room for it and both the woman next to me and I both said hey you need to put your bag up. No, no he didn’t, it was the flight attendants’ responsibility.

The old guy in front of me did find a spot for it and the young guy (he wasn’t even 30) didn’t even thank him.

To top it off, when we deplaned in Minneapolis, it was clear the old guy was disabled—he walked with a severe limp. I can only imagine that his shoulders were in the same condition as his legs.

As for the young guy, may he always sit in the middle row between two people of very generous size who squeeze the snot out of his self-entitled body. What a jerk.