Thanks
danie. That was pretty good!
That whole "first class entitlement" thing ... yup, I've now got the status for a free upgrade to that section, space available, and you can bet I'll snag it if I can. Given the choice between comfort or cramped for a 12-hour flight, I just might select comfort. But yeah, when I'm going past people who are already seated, and the flight attendant draws the curtain shut to keep us proles out, it feels.... I dunno. Exclusionary. Oh, I guess that's 'cause it is.
Did you know in business/first on an international flight they give you real napkins and metal silverware and pretty much push a funnel in your mouth and pour alcohol down? I didn't know that till last year. I also got to watch high-def movies in my own little cubicle and lie down flat to sleep.
Back to the reality of Economy. I'm one of those who is early to the head of the line. But it's not because I'm afraid I won't get on, which would be just silly. It's because I'm usually carrying a raft of computer and electrical equipment in my carry-on, and I really really really really really really don't want to not have room in the overhead and have to gate-check that stuff. So I zip into the plane early to claim my spot upstairs.
People with no elbow room in the middle seat. Airline passenger etiquette demands that aisle and window seat occupants surrender their middle-seat elbow room to give the poor schmoe a break. No, they don't always do it. And leave your seatbacks up, please, unless the person ahead of you puts theirs in your lap. Then, sure, we understand.
Spot-on with the lack of good food choices in the back. Well... it's airline food. It's not like you're missing out on all that much anyway.
And possibly the biggest annoyance of frequent travel is, yeah, people in airports who cannot use the moving walkways, and sure enough, they'll take up the whole width and then come to a dead stop, terror-stricken at the thought of stepping off, while the other passengers, anxious to get to their own gates, pile up behind them like the marching band in
Animal House.
Whether it's an airport or a mall or a sidewalk, the singular human constant is the inability to walk purposefully in a straight line. Really aggravating.