Sorry for the delay...so many things happened over the holiday (and have been keeping me busy since) that I've been writing this post in stops and starts. Hope you enjoy!
I won't bore you with too many details about the holiday itself--we ended up going to Adam's boss's house for Thanksgiving dinner, which was unexpectedly fun, then had some quality time together for the rest of the evening (*wink*). Friday we spent way too much money with the Black Friday shopping, still managing to get some great deals despite waking up at a reasonable hour to go out. That evening we drove to my sister's and brother-in-law's coffee shop for their Friday night Open Mic Night. Saturday morning we visited two of my gal pals from high school who are also pregnant. Adam actually had a hard time tearing himself away from the pregnancy stories to go hang out with the guys! I was really impressed and flattered that he took such an interest. Saturday evening we spent with my Mum, brother and little nephew, while Mum and I cooked up another T-day dinner. Sunday morning was spent with my Mum, then letting our new GPS unit take us on what-should-have-been-a-2-hour-trip-back-to-the-hotel-but-turned-into-almost-4-hours-on-dark-rainy-backroads-of-Virginia. We got ourselves a nice pizza Sunday night for dinner then got Adam ready for Monday morning class. Monday I spent vegging in front of murder-mystery shows on the "Investigation Discovery" channel; I only tore myself away long enough to take Kika for a walk around town, and to accompany Adam to the doctor to get his sprained knee checked out (he's fine).
The real story was the flight home. Well, first, the flight out. I had Kika with me, who was an absolute doll in her little carrier. I think she actually enjoyed having her little quarters to herself, and she didn't snap even once at all the rude and annoying faces and fingers that made their way eye level with her sanctuary. When I got to the security gate, I did everything right--took off my shoes, and put all my belongings in a bin to pass through the scanner. As per the TSA officer's instructions, I took Kika out of her carrier, sent that through the scanner, and held her in my arms as we walked through the security arch. In previous trips, I've found that if I walk through too fast it doesn't scan me properly so I have to walk through a second time. I figured that with the additional load of Kika in my arms, I'd better walk through a little more slowly to ensure that the both of us were scanned thoroughly. Bad idea. The TSA agent on the other side (literally) yelled at me in front of everyone, saying that I needed to walk normally through the gate, so I had to go through it yet again. This time, I walked as normally as I could, with the eyes of every curious passenger on me and my little dog, as the agent then told me, upon my successful passage, that he thought I was trying to "hide something" because of my previously failed attempt. Indignantly, but with as much respect as I could muster at such a public humiliation, I retorted, "Uh...NO...I thought that if I passed through more slowly the scanner would read me more thoroughly!" Then I got the hell out of there before I pissed anyone off and got delayed by the TSA.
So, then, the flight back home on Tuesday morning. My flight left at 6am, so Ads and I had to get up at 4am in order to shower, dress and get ready to be at the airport by 5am. By the time we got there, the full realization that I was leaving (without Adam OR Kika) had set in and I got teary. Realizing that they'd be here to visit me for Xmas in 2 1/2 weeks made it only marginally better. By the time I'd said good-bye and headed to the ticket counter, I was in foul spirits and still sopping up tears with my sleeve. The ticket counter folks were inappropriately peppy for 5 in the morning. In particular, one tall tall blonde spotted me and started exclaiming about the hat I was wearing. It's one of those hats with ear flaps and tassels; mine has the British flag emblazoned all around it. I got it for Xmas one year from Adam's sister, who lives in England with her family. Well, it definitely hit a nerve with this woman at the ticket counter, who started exclaiming to all of her coworkers, "Look at her hat! Check it out! Isn't it the cutest ever? Omigod, I love that hat!" Then she starts barraging me with questions about it: "Where did you get it? How can I get one?" It was a bit much for so early in the morning, so I mumbled that I'd gotten it from my sister-in-law who is married to a Brit. The woman screams back, "So am I! Omigod!" So I gave her one last look and said, "Well, I guess you'll have to go to England." Almost fainting with enthusiam, she shrieks back, "Well, I'm leaving for England tomorrow!" Well, jolly gee whiz for her.
After NOT passing through security (who knew that fruit jam is a liquid?), I had to go back to the ticket counter, pay $15 to check my bag and then deal with the TSA agents all over again. The woman smugly asked me if I'd checked my luggage as she had me take off my shoes a second time and repeat my walk of humiliation through the arch. After a short wait at the gate, I boarded my plane, only to find (who else?) "hat girl" as my flight attendant. As soon as she saw me, she exclaimed, "Oh, you're the girl with the cute hat!" I tried to muster a smile, but at this point, it was only 6am, and after the hat diatribe, the liquids/gels/lotions/checked baggage fiasco, I was in no mood to talk about my hat. But she was! Everytime she passed me walking down the aisle, she'd murmur, "I just LOVE that hat!" People started twisting around in their seats to stare at my hat. Finally, right before the flight attendants had to "prepare the cabin for takeoff", "hat girl" comes up to me with her camera and says, "Excuse me, but would you mind if I took a picture of your hat so I could show my husband what I want for Christmas?" I wanted to explode in her face, tell her to stop annoying a paying customer, anything to get Ms. Happy-in-the-morning out of my face. But, of course, I didn't. I just mumbled, "sure" and purposely turned my head so the camera wouldn't get a picture of my face, just the hat. She left me alone for the rest of the flight.
In other TSA stories, a friend of mine recently told me how she got stopped at the security gate because of a $30 jar of Aveda hair wax she had in her luggage (isn't wax a solid?). They wouldn't let her go through with it, so she either had to check her luggage or have it thrown out. Well, risking arrest (literally), she deflected the agent's attention to other items in her bag and knocked the offending Aveda wax back into her purse, then quickly closed up everything and marched right through security. Part of me wishes I had her chutzpah; the other part of me says she's going to be arrested one day.
We're getting loads of snow here today--on top of the 4 inches that were on the ground upon my return on Tuesday, we've accumulated an additional 3 inches or snow, and we're supposed to get another 2-3 this weekend. "Walking in a winter wonderland!"
No comments:
Post a Comment