Monday, November 27, 2006
Thanks(not)giving for travel
Since The Owner of this blog hasn't seen fit to post any time recently, and I have a bone to pick with FAA, I thought I'd get the proverbial ball rolling again.
Bill, Logan, and the as-yet-unborn Sophia Rose travelled to Denver for Thanksgiving this year. Most things went fine. We were very glad to have purchased a booster seat for Logan with a 5 pt harness so the 35 lbs of solid muscle energy were contained on the plane. Although on the flight there we had him out and a three-way wrestling match ensued across the plane seats.
The trip back, however, was a different story. Logan was great for the trip home. FAA had us confused (another couple in line with us through security, too, by the way; we were not alone). As we went through, we had to stop at the little desk to "declare our liquids". I had an unopened bottle of water and a sippy cup of apple juice and water for Logan. That's it. No toiletries, nothin'..... The guy there said the sippy cup was fine, but the bottled water had to go - so, one bottle of water sacrificed to the Gods of Safer Flying (apparenlty being obviously pregnant doesn't entitle to you to not spend $9 on a bottle of water after security).
We get to the X-Ray part and the guy there (who was obviously not born in the US), starts to give me a hard time about the sippy cup. He said juice was a problem, but milk would have been okay. Excuse me????? I told him the guy back there had said this was okay and I'd already given up an unopened bottle of water; the sippy cup was clearly for my 2 year old. He just repeated himself about the juice being an issue. I offered to drink it myself or have Logan drink some, and then repeated myself that the previous guy had said nothing about juice being a problem (he had seen the bottle, and thus knew it was neither water nor milk by the color; could have been scotch though).... I thought he was going to make me give up the damn sippy cup, which would have made one angry pregnant lady in the Denver airport. Fortunately, it ended benignly and I kept the damn sippy cup. Damn, I wish these guys would all get the same training.
We ran into a couple who had been in line behind us but got into a different X-Ray line. They had the exact same issue with another guy.
I hate airports, I hate flying now. I'm becoming convinced it's not worth it to fly anywhere right now. The security measures are inconsistent and do not give all folks any slack. If you're travelling with a bunch of toiletries - they can't tell what color they are for the most part. I could have apple juice in my shampoo bottle! Yegads! All the folks who simply flashed their little bottles in plastic baggies got waved right through. Those of us with kids were given the third degree over sippy cups, snacks, etc; AND they've eliminated pre-boarding for the most part! Have you tried to board with everyone else with a kid and a car seat lately?!? Damned inconvenient for everyone and of course, the people behind you waiting impatiently for you to clear the aisle are never the kind ones who are sympathetic to your plight. Believe me, it's no joy to fly with kids. It's not like I love standing there blocking others from getting to their seats faster and enduring the dirty looks of the impatient folks with no kids in tow. Thank heaven for the folks who had kids on the flight or have done this.
K. Griping over. Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving, and, I hope no one has to fly this Holiday season if they can avoid it!
Bill, Logan, and the as-yet-unborn Sophia Rose travelled to Denver for Thanksgiving this year. Most things went fine. We were very glad to have purchased a booster seat for Logan with a 5 pt harness so the 35 lbs of solid muscle energy were contained on the plane. Although on the flight there we had him out and a three-way wrestling match ensued across the plane seats.
The trip back, however, was a different story. Logan was great for the trip home. FAA had us confused (another couple in line with us through security, too, by the way; we were not alone). As we went through, we had to stop at the little desk to "declare our liquids". I had an unopened bottle of water and a sippy cup of apple juice and water for Logan. That's it. No toiletries, nothin'..... The guy there said the sippy cup was fine, but the bottled water had to go - so, one bottle of water sacrificed to the Gods of Safer Flying (apparenlty being obviously pregnant doesn't entitle to you to not spend $9 on a bottle of water after security).
We get to the X-Ray part and the guy there (who was obviously not born in the US), starts to give me a hard time about the sippy cup. He said juice was a problem, but milk would have been okay. Excuse me????? I told him the guy back there had said this was okay and I'd already given up an unopened bottle of water; the sippy cup was clearly for my 2 year old. He just repeated himself about the juice being an issue. I offered to drink it myself or have Logan drink some, and then repeated myself that the previous guy had said nothing about juice being a problem (he had seen the bottle, and thus knew it was neither water nor milk by the color; could have been scotch though
We ran into a couple who had been in line behind us but got into a different X-Ray line. They had the exact same issue with another guy.
I hate airports, I hate flying now. I'm becoming convinced it's not worth it to fly anywhere right now. The security measures are inconsistent and do not give all folks any slack. If you're travelling with a bunch of toiletries - they can't tell what color they are for the most part. I could have apple juice in my shampoo bottle! Yegads! All the folks who simply flashed their little bottles in plastic baggies got waved right through. Those of us with kids were given the third degree over sippy cups, snacks, etc; AND they've eliminated pre-boarding for the most part! Have you tried to board with everyone else with a kid and a car seat lately?!? Damned inconvenient for everyone and of course, the people behind you waiting impatiently for you to clear the aisle are never the kind ones who are sympathetic to your plight. Believe me, it's no joy to fly with kids. It's not like I love standing there blocking others from getting to their seats faster and enduring the dirty looks of the impatient folks with no kids in tow. Thank heaven for the folks who had kids on the flight or have done this.
K. Griping over. Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving, and, I hope no one has to fly this Holiday season if they can avoid it!
