Flying. Created to make an easier and more enjoyable traveling experience. What a joke. Flying is one of the most stressful and complicated methods of travel in the world. Yes, it may be the only way to travel around the world in mere hours, but is saving time worth losing your sanity? Is having to deal with canceled flights, clueless flight attendants and huge, overcomplicated airports worth it? I think not.
My exciting day of travel started at 4 a.m. at Norfolk Airport in Virginia. Let me tell you, dealing with security guards and creepy, peppy flight attendants that early in the morning is not a good mix. This travel adventure began with a humiliating experience in which I tried to go down an escalator with steps moving up. I finally made it to the plane and zipped to Charlotte, N.C., home to one of the biggest and most complicated airports in which I have ever set foot. After 30 minutes of wondering and hoping I was going in the right direction, I spied a girl who I thought was headed to the same place as I was so, naturally, I stalked her the rest of the way to my gate. Creepy? Yes, but effective. I found my next plane and boarded a just delightful, long and cramped three-hour flight to Dallas, Texas. Only one flight before I was home. Evidently that expectation was just too high for American Airlines.
After boarding what I thought was my final flight home, the pilot announced that all passengers needed to exit the plane and go back to the gating area. The flight was canceled. Attendants would assist us on getting on another flight. With groans of annoyance and frustration, the other passengers along with me on the full flight got our carry-on bags and went back to the gate where we stood in line for 45 minutes waiting to speak to an attendant. When my turn finally came around the words I heard were, “There are no more flights to Amarillo this evening Miss Beatty, but we can book you a free hotel room for the night.” At that moment my frustration came to a boil. I shouted, “I’m 15! I can’t get my own hotel room!” After that, the attendant franticly explained that they could get me on a flight to Houston where I could switch airlines and get to Amarillo by 8 p.m., eight hours after my original arrival time. Great. I sighed, agreed, and headed to my new gate where I waited three hours to board the flight home. I used the time to get food from McDonald’s and buy a magazine–the crazy clerk gave me a life lesson. “You should put your stuff in a bag so that you will be free,” the clerk said. “The most important thing in life is to be free.”
After an eventful layover, I finally got on my flight to Houston. Once off that plane, I walked until I found myself in the baggage claim area for some unknown reason so I now had to go through security once again. But first, a much-needed drink from Starbucks. Back at security, they informed me that I must chug my drink or throw it away. Apparently, I was liable to take my frustration out on the airport by hiding a bomb in my Frappuccino. I slurped my drink down without tasting it and was then allowed through the line. Three sets of escalators, an indoor train system and endless walking through the terminal I found my gate, which is organized in not only a number system but also a letter corresponding to the number system. In other words, very confusing.
Another plane ride and finally, I’m home. I was back to find friends and family with posters welcoming me home and only memories left of an exasperating day of flying.
