Flying

I recently had the opportunity to take a quick trip to San Diego and flew from Rochester to Atlanta to San Diego to Philadelphia and back to Rochester. Some thoughts and experiences:

Don't Drink and Fly

Touching down into San Diego, you could hear that the beverage cart in the back of the plane was making a lot of noise. I don't think any of us thought much about it...just sounded like the cans of soda and juice were rolling around in a large container. However, upon the wheels actually making contact with the asphalt, a loud noise accompanied a rush of 100s of full cans coming flying down the aisle - it was pretty awesome. They weren't coming fast enough to be a safety risk, it was just quite a sight. Although none of the cans I saw burst open, you couldn't help but feel badly for the flight attendants who had to clean all that up!

This was in stark contrast to the flight leaving San Diego where my conversation with the attendant went like this:

Attendant: "Anything to drink, Sir?"
Me: Orange juice please.
A: That'll be $2.
Me: Um, nevermind.

Really, you can't get a non-alcoholic drink on an airplane for free anymore(On US Air at least)? Crazy.

Speak English...No the Other English

As I was approaching my seat on my flight out of San Diego, I saw the attendant explaining the emergency exit rules and responsibilities to the patrons who were sitting in those seats. She was having an animated conversation with one man who apparently wasn't understanding what she was saying. San Diego is very close to the Mexican border, so they're used to having Spanish speaking people on the plane. She was trying to explain to the guy that he had to move because you need to understand and speak English to sit in that row. I noticed that as she kept asking him if he spoke English or understood what she was saying that he kept pointing from his ear to his mouth.

I suppose that looks a lot like someone just scratching the side of their head. Having taken some of the American Sign Language (ASL) classes with Lisa, I knew that was the sign for "deaf". As I walked by the attendant, who was getting a bit flustered, I turned to her and said "He's deaf...that's why he doesn't understand you." I then put my stuff down and explained (signed) to the guy what the attendant was saying any why he couldn't sit there.

I felt like a winner for being able to resolve the situation, and I made a friend out of it :) He was a nice kid...actually from Mexico, learning ASL, but traveling to Spain to learn how to be a chef. I thought that was impressive!

What Recession?

Philadelphia International Airport used to be a real hole in the wall. For those of you familiar with Veteran's Stadium, it was kinda like that. All cement, all seedy, all function without aesthetics. I used to say that there should be signs in the jetways saying "Welcome to Philadelphia - it's ok, pee anywhere." My how times have changed.



I couldn't tell if I was in the airport or the Cherry Hill Mall. There's an entire wing of the airport called "Philadelphia Marketplace", which is the most awesome time-killing mechanism I have ever seen in an airport. Many major restaruants and shops are in there including: TGI Fridays, Brookstone, Sharper Image, Au Bon Pain, Lids, Borders, Auntie Annes, Bose, Brooks Brothers, and many other main stream mall-type stores. There is also a food court with your typical Burger King and all those types of places with a large eating area with a few dozen large screens giving updated flight information. I tip my hat to whomever designed that wing. As you can probably tell, I was totally blown away. Hands down the most enjoyable experience I have had during a layover.

America the Beautiful



I was fortunate enough to see a birds-eye view of more than 1/2 of the country within a 2-day period in the fall season. Whether it was the San Diego skyline at night, the simple beauty of the plains, the view of the Philadelphia sports complex and accompanying skyline, or the endless fall foliage of the East Coast I couldn't help but think to myself how gorgeous of a land it is in which we live.