So glad to be home
Mar. 30th, 2008 04:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bzarcherI'd like to extend a warm 20 minutes of hate to the TSA, for all the various ways they tried to keep me from getting home, and generally treating people like criminals for wanting to travel within their own country.
Actual discussion.
*walking down the ticketing area to the concourse for my flight in Atlanta, to the FULLY STAFFED TSA security checkpoint, whose nylon rope thingies are OPEN*
TSA screener lady: "Sir! Stop right where you are!"
Me: "Bwuh?" (Keep in mind - the wedding reception ended about midnight. After that, I helped get all the tuxes together and turned over to the folks returning them for us, helped Cossack pack up the stuff for the honeymoon, and delivered him, Amanda, their luggage, and all the wedding presents back to the honeymoon suite at the airforce base. Then I drove -2 hours- back to Atlanta, dropped off the car, took the courtesy shuttle, checked in my bags, and still HAVE NOT SLEPT YET.)
TSA screener: "We won't let you through here."
Me: "Um...but my flight is leaving from Gate T-13." (We are, in fact, at the checkpoint for T councourse. I can -see gate 13 down the hallway over her shoulder.-)
TSA screener: "We won't open this gate until 5:30." (WHY? You have 8 people standing around, drinking coffee, and doing jack shit, and the ROPE GATES FOR THE LINES ARE ALL OPEN AND SAY TO COME IN.)
Me: "But my flight boards at 5:30."
TSA Screener: "Too bad!"
Me: "...so can I get through to the T-gates somewhere else?"
TSA Screener: "Suuure. Just walk to the A concourse checkpoint."
Me: "That's at the other end of the airport."
TSA Harpy: "Sure is!"
Without many options, I turned and walked the length of the ticketing area, past baggage claim, and to the A checkpoint, where I joined a nice large line that every TSA employee got to cut in front of as they came through. Even better, despite only being open since 4:00am (and it was now 4:30), the line was being stopped so that some of the screeners could go on breaks.
Finally, I got to where I showed the guard my papers and identification.
TSA lady #2: "Are you having a blessed day, sir?"
Me: "...no, ma'am."
TSA Lady: "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that! Why?"
Me: "Because I'm being forced to walk a loop around the entire airport rather than just allowed to go through screening at T-concourse."
TSA Lady: "Ohhh. Yeah, they don't open until 5:30. Sorry, baby."
Have I mentioned that while I think it's kinda cute to hear people calling each other Miss $name or Mr. $name in conversation, I'm really tired of the phrase "sorry, baby"?
After removing all my items for the checkpoint, being screened and walking all the way back to my gate, (including right back past the Harpy, who was apparently unable to let me through the gate because she was ordering her morning Starbucks, which was being dropped off to her as I walked past), I found they oversold the flight. Fortunately, I had a confirmed seat, but the first flight of the morning does not get any happier or easier when it's jammed full of people, and a bunch of people are arguing/pleading with the gate agent to see if they could be squeezed on. (Which surprised me, really. That many people for a 6am flight? Wow.)
We also had two false starts on trying to leave the airport, when the pilot announced that the "hoses for refueling and loading the water system for the toilets" at the gate were not working, so we got to move to another gate and do that before we left.
When we reached Dulles, I was supposed to have an hour layover. Instead, I arrived just in time to run to the next gate for boarding the flight to Columbus, get settled in there...and then sit on the tarmac for another 20 minutes due to "luggage issues."
I suspect part of the issues were transferring luggage from the Atlanta flight to our second leg.
Finally, we got to Columbus, I found Alex waiting for me at baggage claim...and my bag didn't show up. My carry on was fine, my tuxedo bag was fine...but the bag with all my actual stuff? Nope.
We talked to the nice United lady (with Alex, thankfully, running some interference for me because I was frankly starting to crack a bit - the last straw, as it were...), and we got lucky - they'd accidentally left it on the cart transferring the bags off the plane. One of the baggage guys actually brought it out to me.
Once we left Port Columbus, we hit Rise and Dine so I could eat something, and then I came home and crashed from about 11:30-4. Pictures are up in my Flickr, my head feels like it's full of cheese, and I'm really tired, but at the same time...
I look at one of the pictures I took at the reception: Cossack with a grin that's going to split his face, Amanda clearly just as happy but a little more restrained.
Thinking about how happy they both were yesterday, and how much it meant to them that I was there for that day?
I would go through all of it again in a heartbeat.
Actual discussion.
*walking down the ticketing area to the concourse for my flight in Atlanta, to the FULLY STAFFED TSA security checkpoint, whose nylon rope thingies are OPEN*
TSA screener lady: "Sir! Stop right where you are!"
Me: "Bwuh?" (Keep in mind - the wedding reception ended about midnight. After that, I helped get all the tuxes together and turned over to the folks returning them for us, helped Cossack pack up the stuff for the honeymoon, and delivered him, Amanda, their luggage, and all the wedding presents back to the honeymoon suite at the airforce base. Then I drove -2 hours- back to Atlanta, dropped off the car, took the courtesy shuttle, checked in my bags, and still HAVE NOT SLEPT YET.)
TSA screener: "We won't let you through here."
Me: "Um...but my flight is leaving from Gate T-13." (We are, in fact, at the checkpoint for T councourse. I can -see gate 13 down the hallway over her shoulder.-)
TSA screener: "We won't open this gate until 5:30." (WHY? You have 8 people standing around, drinking coffee, and doing jack shit, and the ROPE GATES FOR THE LINES ARE ALL OPEN AND SAY TO COME IN.)
Me: "But my flight boards at 5:30."
TSA Screener: "Too bad!"
Me: "...so can I get through to the T-gates somewhere else?"
TSA Screener: "Suuure. Just walk to the A concourse checkpoint."
Me: "That's at the other end of the airport."
TSA Harpy: "Sure is!"
Without many options, I turned and walked the length of the ticketing area, past baggage claim, and to the A checkpoint, where I joined a nice large line that every TSA employee got to cut in front of as they came through. Even better, despite only being open since 4:00am (and it was now 4:30), the line was being stopped so that some of the screeners could go on breaks.
Finally, I got to where I showed the guard my papers and identification.
TSA lady #2: "Are you having a blessed day, sir?"
Me: "...no, ma'am."
TSA Lady: "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that! Why?"
Me: "Because I'm being forced to walk a loop around the entire airport rather than just allowed to go through screening at T-concourse."
TSA Lady: "Ohhh. Yeah, they don't open until 5:30. Sorry, baby."
Have I mentioned that while I think it's kinda cute to hear people calling each other Miss $name or Mr. $name in conversation, I'm really tired of the phrase "sorry, baby"?
After removing all my items for the checkpoint, being screened and walking all the way back to my gate, (including right back past the Harpy, who was apparently unable to let me through the gate because she was ordering her morning Starbucks, which was being dropped off to her as I walked past), I found they oversold the flight. Fortunately, I had a confirmed seat, but the first flight of the morning does not get any happier or easier when it's jammed full of people, and a bunch of people are arguing/pleading with the gate agent to see if they could be squeezed on. (Which surprised me, really. That many people for a 6am flight? Wow.)
We also had two false starts on trying to leave the airport, when the pilot announced that the "hoses for refueling and loading the water system for the toilets" at the gate were not working, so we got to move to another gate and do that before we left.
When we reached Dulles, I was supposed to have an hour layover. Instead, I arrived just in time to run to the next gate for boarding the flight to Columbus, get settled in there...and then sit on the tarmac for another 20 minutes due to "luggage issues."
I suspect part of the issues were transferring luggage from the Atlanta flight to our second leg.
Finally, we got to Columbus, I found Alex waiting for me at baggage claim...and my bag didn't show up. My carry on was fine, my tuxedo bag was fine...but the bag with all my actual stuff? Nope.
We talked to the nice United lady (with Alex, thankfully, running some interference for me because I was frankly starting to crack a bit - the last straw, as it were...), and we got lucky - they'd accidentally left it on the cart transferring the bags off the plane. One of the baggage guys actually brought it out to me.
Once we left Port Columbus, we hit Rise and Dine so I could eat something, and then I came home and crashed from about 11:30-4. Pictures are up in my Flickr, my head feels like it's full of cheese, and I'm really tired, but at the same time...
I look at one of the pictures I took at the reception: Cossack with a grin that's going to split his face, Amanda clearly just as happy but a little more restrained.
Thinking about how happy they both were yesterday, and how much it meant to them that I was there for that day?
I would go through all of it again in a heartbeat.
