barry burton
the Class
Yesterday was a Good Day. That was doubleplusgood, because I haven’t had one in a while. I really needed it.
I flew to San Jose, but I was late getting the ticket, so I had to take what I could get – no choice of time or stopovers. I booked with Delta, but for some reason I ended up on a tiny Continental Airlines plane out of Birmingham. The lady sitting next to me was old. She smelled like mothballs and her elbow poked over the armrest. I landed in Houston, a detail I didn’t really pay attention to until announced by the flight attendant. I was kind of out of it when I purchased the ticket, as well as when I boarded the plane.
I’ve been through the smaller Houston airport that Southwest uses, but this was my first time through HBI. Since our plane was small, after landing it taxied to this airplane parking lot off away from the terminal. A bus drove out and parked with its door opposite that of the plane. The bus took us to the little plane terminal, which I had to wind my way through to get the main terminal, or so I thought. Really that just brought me to another bus gate, where I boarded a bus that backtracked through the airplane parking lot en route to the main terminal.
Out of Houston I was actually on a Delta plane, so I had to get Delta boarding passes from the gate in Houston. I was again out of it, and only realized when boarding started that I was in group 1! Unfortunately, I had to fill my water bottle from the water fountain before boarding, so when I made it back to the gate, group 2 had already started boarding… I will just have to be the first on board some other time. It actually ended up being better than I thought, because as I was looking at the ticket as I was at the water fountain, I figured out that the reason I was in group 1 was because I was in First Class! Hurrah for the upgrade! Since I came on with group 2, people had to stop behind me while I put my bag into the overhead compartment and the middle aged guy behind me was a little bitter I think. He said something along the lines of “Like Napoleon Dynamite says, you got lucky.” I’m not sure. The words didn’t make much sense to me, but his tone I understood quite well. I guess I should watch the movie again.
From Houston I flew to Salt Lake City. The clouds were beautiful and I liked the Salt Lake City airport a lot because it was surrounded by mountains, some of them snow-capped. That was good because I was stuck there for 3 hours, after which I finally flew out to San Jose. I’ve driven through Salt Lake City twice and I just never remember the mountains being so big. Huh. Leaving Salt Lake City I was once again in First Class. My first time, and twice in one day! Wow.
The flight attendants sure ask if you want anything a lot. I guess I can get used to it, but it was annoying at first. ( More Everything! Though I was flabbergasted find that there were no flowers in the bathroom. No gardenias? :) ) I really liked the real sized cups of coffee they gave me. Not only were the cups normal in stature, but they were formed from the cool styrofoamish-paper material that isn’t too thick, doesn’t need a sleeve, and still doesn’t burn the hand. Of course, my favorite part is the super fat arm rest between the seats. It came in handy when I sat next to the super fat guy who would have been spilling over into my seat were I in coach. I’m not sure why, but I love having both elbows on an armrest to prop up my arms which in turn prop up a book while I read. I also enjoyed the leg room galore. No more cramping muscles. Good stuff. As I relaxed in my plush, over-sized, roomy seat, I was embarrassed to find myself spontaneously smiling from time to time. I tried to stop, but that never works as my face just ends up with a contorted half-smile. I don’t think I was smiling because First Class was that great, I think it was just because I knew what I was missing – my cramped seat in coach. To sum up, while I was unsure before, I can now say with absolute certainty that First Class is amazing. So for anyone else out there who is still sitting on the fence, now you know. :)
Highlights from last weekend: Friday night was the Pinback show that cool eyeglass shop girl said was a must see; Saturday afternoon I almost stepped on a snake while running; Saturday night I dressed up, ate at Hot & Hot, then rode in the back of Brett’s truck; I guess that was it.
While traveling, I banged my right elbow many times on my bag and other various objects that found themselves in the way of the elbow. This morning the half healed scar hurts and my right hand is going half numb again. Yeesh. I should really learn to ride a bike better.
