Don't Fly With Me

I don't know why it is, but I'm apparently cursed when it comes to flying. If you find yourself on a plane with me, your best bet is to find another flight. Trust me. Something will go wrong. One of my worst experiences came this past week...on Continental Airlines. I was supposed to leave from San Antonio at 3pm...for a quick 36-minute flight over to Houston...then onto Colorado Springs. At 3pm, we got on the plane...taxi'd away from the gate. That's when the pilot told us: "Houston's airport is shut down due to weather. We're going to sit here for a bit." So, we sat for an hour and a half before they taxi'd back to the gate....and we all got off the plane. And waited...for two hours. Then we got back onto another plane. We taxi'd out...and stopped again. We sat on the plane for another hour and a half. When the pilot made this announcement: "We're going to have to switch you over to another plane. This one can't make it to Houston at this point." Not sure what that means but that's what he said. So, we got off that plane and switched over to another one. We taxi'd out away from the gate...and then, another announcement: "The weather has gotten bad in Houston again, so we're going to have to sit here for awhile. We'll give you an update in 30 minutes or so." After 30 minutes, the pilot came back on. "Well, we got an update and it's not good. Looks like we're going to have to sit here for another hour and a half before we can take off. So just sit back, relax...feel free to use your cell phones." At this point I had been on three different planes for a total of three and half hours and had not gone anywhere. Adding to the frustration is the fact that planes were taking off FROM Houston almost the entire time. If they can takeoff, can't they land? I tell you, I'm cursed. Consider my flight history:

• 13 flights on United Airlines: 10 delays of at least one hour each, 3 cancellations, 2 lost bags.
• 4 flights on Continental Airlines: 3 delays, 1 cancellation, 1 lost bag.
• 2 flights on Delta Airlines: 2 multi-hour delays.
• 2 flights on Soutwest Airlines: 1 hour-long delay.
• 1 flight on Cathay Pacific: 1 stolen videocamera from my luggage

Almost every flight on these airlines has had some problem. United is by far the worst in my books. My best luck seems to come on American Airlines. I've flown them 14 times and only had two delays. But ya gotta wonder. So...take my advice: don't fly with me.

Seat for one, please.

I'm sitting here in the airport in Colorado Springs...heading to California. I'll be there for three days for some meetings with an advertising agency. This will be the longest time I've been away from my beautiful little boy. Leaving this morning was extremely hard. And he was in such a good mood..."talking" up a storm. For some reason, he does this thing where he kinda squints his eyes when he tries talking. It's absolutely adorable. He and I "talked" for nearly half an hour before I left. Man, I'm gonna miss him. As I'm sitting here in the waiting area of the airport, I can't help but notice something interesting about the chair arrangements. This isn't the gate area, where there are just rows of seats...but this is a nice lounging area, with much more comfortable chairs. There's one sofa...the rest of this large area is all single seats...each with a little table between them. As I watch people come and go, I see how the chairs farthest from anyone else are taken first. Only when there are no chairs all by themselves, will someone consider sitting across the little table from a stranger. Isn't that the way we are, as Americans, I mean? We all want our own space. We want to keep to ourselves. I've traveled quite a bit internationally, and you just don't see that in other countries. Total strangers don't think twice about bumping elbows with you in a waiting area...even if lone seats are available. As I've traveled through Europe, I've found myself uncomfortable a few times with that scenario. And it bothers me. Why do we go out of our way to keep from interacting with other human beings? We're not all that way, I realize. I'm traveling today with a co-worker who has never met a stranger. She'll talk to anyone. And even that makes me uncomfortable to be with her, sometimes. I can't help but think, when she starts a conversation, "What if they don't want to talk to you, Krissy?" But she plows right through. And people are always pretty receptive. Maybe there's something to learn there. Anyway, I just thought I'd share this realization with you. I'm going to go sit next to someone I don't know now. If I get extremely brave, I may even say hello. For more information about Tim Glenn, visit timglennmusic.com tim glenn