Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Storm Warnings
I took a ten and a half hour flight from Chicago to New York on Sunday. This may seem contrary to everything we know about contemporary travel, geography, and good sense, but it is indeed the case. Although we boarded on time, we had a half hour runway delay at O'Hare, an hour of holding pattern over Ohio, and then an unscheduled stop in D.C. to refuel. And that, as they say, is where the fun really began.
They told us that we couldn't take off again because all of the airspace over New York had been closed due to inclement weather, that they didn't know when this would change, that we couldn't get off the plane because they didn't have a gate open, and that they were going to put in a copy of Seventeen Again for our entertainment. I know it may be hard to believe, but somehow Zac Efron's charms didn't manage to keep us happy for over three hours.
A woman in the row in front of me went into full on screaming conspiracy theorist mode, violently expostulating to our stewardess that the bad weather was all a lie because she had checked the weather before she left and it looked okay. Meanwhile, the baby in the row behind me engaged in a little screaming of its own, while its parents tried to calm it by singing Polish folk songs to it for the greater part of an hour and a half. And a group of passengers in the middle of the plane attempted a mutiny in hopes of getting their hands on some alcohol and cracker packages. It was not a pretty sight.
Just when I thought all hope was lost, however, they announced that we would be taking off for New York momentarily. About an hour later, we were actually off the ground, and about two hours later we were actually in New York. There did seem to have been some rain, for what it is worth.
I think it may be some time before I voluntarily get on a plane again. There are other places where I can catch up on the latest in teen cinema.
I took a ten and a half hour flight from Chicago to New York on Sunday. This may seem contrary to everything we know about contemporary travel, geography, and good sense, but it is indeed the case. Although we boarded on time, we had a half hour runway delay at O'Hare, an hour of holding pattern over Ohio, and then an unscheduled stop in D.C. to refuel. And that, as they say, is where the fun really began.
They told us that we couldn't take off again because all of the airspace over New York had been closed due to inclement weather, that they didn't know when this would change, that we couldn't get off the plane because they didn't have a gate open, and that they were going to put in a copy of Seventeen Again for our entertainment. I know it may be hard to believe, but somehow Zac Efron's charms didn't manage to keep us happy for over three hours.
A woman in the row in front of me went into full on screaming conspiracy theorist mode, violently expostulating to our stewardess that the bad weather was all a lie because she had checked the weather before she left and it looked okay. Meanwhile, the baby in the row behind me engaged in a little screaming of its own, while its parents tried to calm it by singing Polish folk songs to it for the greater part of an hour and a half. And a group of passengers in the middle of the plane attempted a mutiny in hopes of getting their hands on some alcohol and cracker packages. It was not a pretty sight.
Just when I thought all hope was lost, however, they announced that we would be taking off for New York momentarily. About an hour later, we were actually off the ground, and about two hours later we were actually in New York. There did seem to have been some rain, for what it is worth.
I think it may be some time before I voluntarily get on a plane again. There are other places where I can catch up on the latest in teen cinema.
