I’ve found that my longer trips tend to be like this. I think part of it is that the longer-haul flights tend to get priority when it comes to reshuffling equipment and crew, so you’re less likely to see delays. Of course, bad weather can hose anything at any time, but if you avoid that then the longer flights tend to be smoother.
Also, the airlines have gotten a whole lot better over the last 20-ish years at keeping things running in general. Yeah, we all like to complain about the bad experiences, and they certainly suck when they happen. But overall, there’s been a lot of improvement.
I really think things went extremely well but 1 hour and 20 minutes was almost not enough time to get through Customs and TSA in Atlanta… wth. That was the slowed line I’ve ever been in, and I’ve gone though huge lines at San Fran, JFK and Newark.
Well, speaking of Newark, I’ve got to head to the airport in a few to get back to my side of the country. Been a nice little holiday but I’m ready to go home. See you all on the other side!
Story time. My boss once got so hammered drinking at the airport that he got on his flight and got into his seat and held it together just long enough for them to taxi a bit out into the airport. Then he jumped up, ran to a bathroom and started puking in the loudest way possible. Naturally, the flight attendants freaked out and all of them rushed the bathroom, banging on the door telling him he had to take his seat or they couldn’t take off. He couldn’t even open the door, so they were forced to return to the gate and get help to carry him out.
So, that’s how my boss caused the delay of an entire international flight bound for Europe. And, at least for me, I think that’s definitely into the realm of, “too drunk to fly.”
Oh it is. We refer to it as the, “international incident,” whenever the subject comes up. He will NEVER live that story down. “Well you know, if you could hold your liquor, we wouldn’t have had the international incident, Dave.”
The flip side of all of that was that the airline treated him very nicely. Once he was off they got him to the international lounge, and booked him on the next flight over, with an upgrade. He went from business class to first class. Meanwhile, everyone else that got in on time had crappy weather and delays trying to get a car. By the time everyone was finally checked in and at the hotel, my boss arrived about two hours later and got an airline paid ride to the hotel.
The world has changed ever so much. In the late 70s my girlfriend, soon to be first wife, and I were on a plane to her home in Michigan. We drank a lot. First at an airport bar. And also on the plane. Then, when the lights were turned down, we went into the bathroom to join the Mile High Club. It wasn’t easy. The bathrooms haven’t changed much, size wise. When we exited the bathroom a flight attendant smiled at us. She seemed happy for us. I guess these days, if we were even let on the plane it would have ended in handcuffs.
I don’t think this is true. During my training days for my profession, I had to travel a lot… for weeks in a row. Now I travel maybe once a year. I’ve never seen anyone refused to be let on a plane because they were drunk until yesterday, and that’s not because I haven’t seen someone drunk. I’ve seen some obnoxious drunks that settled down almost immediately when asked but I’ve never seen an a gate agent just straight up look at someone and say I don’t like the way you’re walking, come over here, we’re probably not going to let you on the plane.
I’ve slept in airports. I’ve gotten hotels at or near airports due to issues. I was part of the held captive crowd that was on a runway for 5/6 hours without water or bathroom breaks before they made that against the law… this was totally new for me and this is all post 9/11.
So long as they aren’t locked in the bathroom throwing up, I’m pretty sure the average well-dressed white first-class passenger can drink until they are completely wasted. Last time I flew first class the flight attendant offered me more than enough to get drunk on without my asking for a single thing. Judging from the ads for Emirates, I expect the entire passenger cabin is drunk starting a few minutes into most flights.
No. They didn’t search her person when I was there. She scanned her tiicket and the lady said, in summary, you look like you’re having trouble walking, come over here. We’re not going to let you board. That’s the last I saw of her.
That sounds so shady. Is it actually illegal to board while drunk? It also sounds like the gate agent was former law enforcement or something. Most of the time those agents look like they are bored as all hell while scanning tickets.
I lost my glasses. As anyone with terrible vision can tell you, this sucks. And I’m one of the fortunate ones…I’m technically just this side of legal to drive without them, barely passed the vision test without help last time I had to take the exam. (Likely won’t happen next time.)
But…it all worked out OK! I had just gotten a new prescription anyway and just hadn’t filled it yet, due to vagaries of insurance limits. So it worked out perfectly, one of those weird things that just happens to line up. I suspect I have karma to thank from all my losing streaks in Hearthstone and Eternal! :)
So apparently Oregon has finally decided to let people pump their own gas. Unless they live in one of the high-population counties, presumably to keep from mass unemployment in the gas station attendant demographic. Although it seems a lot of rural stations are staying with full service for now, too.
So, @Nesrie and any other rural Oregonians, had to pump your own gas yet? My brother is up in Portland so he’s spared the horrors of gasoline-labor, at least for now.
This was designed for rural areas because the gas stations and usually accompanying store or shop may not be open for say a holiday or late at night but someone in the area needed gas right now… it’s to avoid stranding people when there isn’t a 24 hour station in the middle of nowhere. Those stations, so far, still plan to man their stations during business hours.
Where I live is still considered a metro region, with rural parts. I could have used a USDA loan for my house, but I didn’t need to.
