I did it on purpose and it went as planned. I got bumped from my 6:30 am flight to Atlanta. Tuesday was a travel day for a company meeting in Orlando Florida. I booked the early flight through Atlanta because it is always overbooked. Sure enough after checking in and waiting at the gate the announcement came. 'We need one volunteer to take a later flight'. I was that volunteer because volunteers get a $300 travel voucher and a first class ticket to their destination. One na done half hours later I was on a plane to my destination, sitting in first class (where I belong) with an extra $300 in my pocket with a nice hot breakfast in front of me!
The voucher will come in handy on our next family vacation or to take Sherri along with me on a business trip. This is the second time in a row this flight has paid off for me and both times the delays were minimal. As the leader on the 'A Team' used to say, 'I love it when a plan comes together'.
On the trip back, I wasn't so lucky. Due to extended meetings I got to the airport late. The reward for arriving late was seat assignment, 30B. Let me tell you 30B is nothing like 3B. 3B is an aisle seat with loads of leg room and a doting flight attendant. 30B is a dreaded middle seat with no leg room for a guy just over 6'3". There are no kids and babies around 3B, they surrounded me in 30B. They were not good kids either, the good ones must have been up front some where.
I laughed about that at work this morning. How our kids were awesome when we flew to Disney World so many years ago. I thought it was because we sat ready to give them 'awesome encouragement' in case they acted otherwise. You know that little thump you can use on the top of a kid's head when you are driving? I know for sure my dad knows about this. I always called that kind of awesome encouragement 'thinkin-helpin'. Say the word 'thinkin-helpin' to Caleb and to this day he'll tell you he hates it and it doesn't work. The threat of thinkin-helpin always worked better than thinkin-helpin itself did so thumps were extremely few and far between.
On my 30B flight, there was a quiet dispute (in my mind at least) over who controlled the armrests. My belief is, and this should be announced by the airline attendants with all the other safety announcements, that the person in the middle seat has claim to and first use of both middle arm rests. People on the aisle and by the window have their own private armrests on the other side. In my case, the guy on the aisle didn't understand this until he was distracted by one of the aforementioned thinkin-helpin needy bad kids and so I seized the moment and the armrest for the duration of the trip. Possession is 9/10ths of the armrest law.
Our flight was delayed after we got on the plane so I got to enjoy some additional time in my middle seat. We were delayed so long that my 40 minute layover was in jeopardy - could I make it to the gate to catch my flight to Omaha? 30B (way in the back) is not an optimal starting point to catch a short layover flight. As if matters weren't bad enough upon landing, my Blackberry had a message waiting for me that we had a gate change for the flight to Omaha - it was now flying out of a completely different terminal than where we were deplaning. Luckily it turned out the Omaha flight was delayed as well so my jog to the gate turned out to be unnecessary except as a reminder as to how out of shape I am.
On this flight of life, some have 1st class seats, some of us have middle seats. The Bible says it's harder to make your heavenly connection from the 1st class section because the last deplane first, so to speak. On this flight be kind to those around you, let the guy in the middle have the armrest. Encourage those around you including the kids who need a positive influence. Praise God for the Holy Spirit thinkin-helpin He gives you! In the end, I am confident your connecting flight will be held for you and we will arrive at an amazing destination for an eternity of blessings!
Blest Regards,
kp
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