B3NN3TT
12-21-2005, 05:22 PM
I think I've found a non-boring way to verbalize all this.
We've all seen A CHRISTMAS STORY. Remember the scene where Ralphie was FINALLY getting to meet Santa? He was spun around, shoved into Santa's lap, and accosted by all kinds of people, all at once. Santa says "WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR CHRISTMAS LITTLE BOY?!?!?!" and Ralphie's head is spinning. He's like a deer in the headlights. "C'mon, kid, what, a football?", says Santa. And Ralphie, all glazed over, nods and repeats, "Yeah, football..."
That was kinda like me at the Burbank airport.
The original plan was to leave burbank at 3, and catch a plane to Columbus at 4:25 in Las Vegas. Things being as they were, the plane to Vegas was coming from Portland, which was apparently under some snowstorm of Biblical proportions. So needless to say, it was running late. VERY late. In fact, it was pushed back to a 4:20 departure time - and there was no way I could make it to Vegas in 5 minutes on a 737.
So Southwest airlines moved me onto a different flight that was leaving in time to get me to Vegas to make the connection. But as I was going through the gate, the attendant says that the overhead storage is full, and we must check our carry-on bags. Here's where it gets funny.
I'm handing my bag over to the attendant, who is tying claim checks on them. "Going to Vegas?" he says. "Yeah, sure, Vegas", I say, like Ralphie in a daze, brain out of gear. The problem: I was anticipating a "Plane-side service", like the one offered by pretty much every airline IN THE WORLD, except for Southwest, apparently. With plane-side check, your bags don't go into the cargo hold - they are temporarily stored in a separate compartment, and brought out onto the ramp as you exit the plane on your next stop. Grab it and go. Well, not Southwest. As we landed in Las Vegas (at precisely 4:25 - I was looking at doing an OJ Simpson to the next boarding gate), the attendant comes on the intercom and says "For those of you who checked your bags - they will automatically be forwarded on to your final destination". And at that point, my brain exploded. I remembered I had told the attendant that I was going to Vegas, not Columbus. So my bag was not waiting on the ramp for me - it was coming through the baggage carousel with all the other Vegas luggage.
And of course, the Vegas airport is the size of a small city, and the baggage claim is MILES from the gate. So I did an OJ Simpson to the baggage carousel, and proceeded to stand around for a good half hour before my bag finally arrived. Then I had to OJ back to the gate, which you can only get to by taking a SHUTTLE. Then I had to go theough the security check again. And of course, by that time, the connecting flight was LONG GONE.
And of course, there were no more flights to Columbus that night. So I had 2 choices: take the next flight out of Las Vegas, in 14 HOURS; or leave for Chicago IMMEDIATELY, and take the first flight out of Chicago, 6 hours after arrival. So I chose 6 hours in Chicago over 14 in Las Vegas.
So let that be a lesson to you - always have your wits about you when travelling. It didn't cost any extra, but sleeping on a plastic chair next to a baggage carousel is no fun.
But I had an awesome time in California all weekend. It wasn't all bad.
We've all seen A CHRISTMAS STORY. Remember the scene where Ralphie was FINALLY getting to meet Santa? He was spun around, shoved into Santa's lap, and accosted by all kinds of people, all at once. Santa says "WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR CHRISTMAS LITTLE BOY?!?!?!" and Ralphie's head is spinning. He's like a deer in the headlights. "C'mon, kid, what, a football?", says Santa. And Ralphie, all glazed over, nods and repeats, "Yeah, football..."
That was kinda like me at the Burbank airport.
The original plan was to leave burbank at 3, and catch a plane to Columbus at 4:25 in Las Vegas. Things being as they were, the plane to Vegas was coming from Portland, which was apparently under some snowstorm of Biblical proportions. So needless to say, it was running late. VERY late. In fact, it was pushed back to a 4:20 departure time - and there was no way I could make it to Vegas in 5 minutes on a 737.
So Southwest airlines moved me onto a different flight that was leaving in time to get me to Vegas to make the connection. But as I was going through the gate, the attendant says that the overhead storage is full, and we must check our carry-on bags. Here's where it gets funny.
I'm handing my bag over to the attendant, who is tying claim checks on them. "Going to Vegas?" he says. "Yeah, sure, Vegas", I say, like Ralphie in a daze, brain out of gear. The problem: I was anticipating a "Plane-side service", like the one offered by pretty much every airline IN THE WORLD, except for Southwest, apparently. With plane-side check, your bags don't go into the cargo hold - they are temporarily stored in a separate compartment, and brought out onto the ramp as you exit the plane on your next stop. Grab it and go. Well, not Southwest. As we landed in Las Vegas (at precisely 4:25 - I was looking at doing an OJ Simpson to the next boarding gate), the attendant comes on the intercom and says "For those of you who checked your bags - they will automatically be forwarded on to your final destination". And at that point, my brain exploded. I remembered I had told the attendant that I was going to Vegas, not Columbus. So my bag was not waiting on the ramp for me - it was coming through the baggage carousel with all the other Vegas luggage.
And of course, the Vegas airport is the size of a small city, and the baggage claim is MILES from the gate. So I did an OJ Simpson to the baggage carousel, and proceeded to stand around for a good half hour before my bag finally arrived. Then I had to OJ back to the gate, which you can only get to by taking a SHUTTLE. Then I had to go theough the security check again. And of course, by that time, the connecting flight was LONG GONE.
And of course, there were no more flights to Columbus that night. So I had 2 choices: take the next flight out of Las Vegas, in 14 HOURS; or leave for Chicago IMMEDIATELY, and take the first flight out of Chicago, 6 hours after arrival. So I chose 6 hours in Chicago over 14 in Las Vegas.
So let that be a lesson to you - always have your wits about you when travelling. It didn't cost any extra, but sleeping on a plastic chair next to a baggage carousel is no fun.
But I had an awesome time in California all weekend. It wasn't all bad.