Unless you just emerged from a bomb shelter to read my blog, you’ve probably heard that American Airlines canceled something like 9 million flights this week. Since my itineraries had me flying to Dallas, Miami and Atlanta on American, you might say that my travels this week were in some jeopardy. Fortunately, the only cancellation I suffered was from Denver to Dallas, and I was footsteps away from the counter when it happened. So I was one of the lucky ones that immediately got an aisle seat on a Frontier flight leaving just one hour later.
My Miami and Atlanta segments were on 757′s, which were unaffected by the FAA inspections. They were also completely, totally full so there was no risk that they’d cancel those flights just to free up equipment. Overall, I’d say that I got pretty lucky.
The airports, however, were absolute pandemonium this week. Miami in particular seemed like a third world country just learning how to operate an airport. There were hundreds and hundreds of people trying to get booked on alternate flights at the counters and people like me just trying to make the flights we were scheduled for by somehow penetrating the crowd. Those rope barriers they use to zig zag lines? In the American section of the terminal they were like crazy quilt random drunken mazes with badly placed signs to tell you where to go in and out. Consequently, a lot of people were simply unhooking them and walking through to the place they needed to get to. It wound up having all of the downsides of the rope maze (frustrating, constrained flow) and all of the downsides of anarchy (angry, chaotic crowds). I don’t know how far away we were from some kind of violence breaking out in the airport, but I’m guessing not much.
Once you got through security and into the gate areas it wasn’t much better. It was literally hard to move in places. And speaking of violence, I saw something on Concourse D near the Admiral’s Club that I’ve never seen before – at least not in the US. Walking toward me through the crowd were two hulking Miami Police officers holding short stock automatic rifles, fingers on the trigger guards. Just behind them was a very petite blonde wearing a pair of those super-sized don’t-take-pictures-of-me-you-scum-paparazzi sunglasses. Behind her was a small entourage of unremarkable looking women.
Who was the blonde? Why did she rate a police escort with nearly shouldered automatic weapons?! Is that how the cops roll in Miami? Surrounded by several hundred people that couldn’t move waiting on their airplanes, what would they actually do with them in the case of an attack?
Anyway, I was glad to get out of there and be on my way to Atlanta. The Greatest Kid in the World and I will be spending a few days together while she starts her Spring Break.
After that, I get to return to Dallas for a whole week!! I’m very excited about that. For the past 30 days I’ve slept in my bed in Dallas only 3 of them. That’s nuts. This is the longest string of travel I’ve had in I can’t remember when. I’m tired, I’ve gained 3 pounds or so, I haven’t been to the gym in weeks and both my house and apartment are a mess. Enough.
