Traveling Blues

I travel all the time; probably 150,000 miles a year or so.  I have learned to be tolerant - up to a point.

I understand that flights are late or overbooked.  I understand summer vacation is here and airports are crowded.  but there are some things I just don't get.

When I booked my ticket on United to Budapest, I was told that the 10-hour leg was on Lufthansa and therefore, they could not give me a seat.  This is important because the longer you wait, the more likely it is that you get a middle row seat.  I call Lufthansa and they tell me that since United booked it, United must give me the seats.  So, I go back and forth.

In the end, Lufthansa says they cannot release a seat to me until I get to the airport.  I am not overly worried because at the time of booking, the plane was basically empty.  I get to the airport, 6 hours before my second leg, the Lufthansa leg, and find that I have been given a middle seat.  No one could be earlier than me and yet they all got assigned seats.  I made it to Los Angeles (more on that in a minute) and at the Lufthansa counter, I tried to get a better seat.  No luck.  When I asked if there was a secret handshake or something that I was doing wrong, she got mad.  I just walked away; their job is hard enough without me making it worse.

So, I am at LAX.  This place reminds me of bus depot in a third world country.  It is filthy and completely disorganized.  Every time I come through here I marvel that this is the best Los Angeles can do.  Right now its about 80 outside and 90 inside.

So I make it to the TSA donut lounge, also known as airport security.  There are about five squads of blue shirts talking about yesterday's ball game and two people working a line that stretches to Baltimore.  I finally got through and looked up the TSA agent in charge.  I told him that if he worked for me, I would fire him on the spot.  He looked at me with the same expression as a cow watching a car drive by.

I told my business partner that we could eliminate all screening if, when a terrorists tries to take over a plane, handguns fall from the overhead compartment.  My business partner responded with, "That or bottles of shampoo."  The sad part is that this is true.  TSA places the same threat on a 4 oz bottle of shampoo as they do on a bazooka.

Okay, so I am complaining a bit.  I had to dump it somewhere.

Off to my next flight.

j

The Good with the Bad

I have this daily to-do list that I maintain.  It helps me to keep track of how often I do things.  This blog is on the list.  I have several blogs.  On my list, this one is titled "Rant Blog."  The title comes from the fact that I often use this blog to vent.

Today, I am going to try something different.  I am going to complain, and then say something nice about what I just complained about.  I want to (1) see if I can do that and (2) see if saying something nice actually changes my perspective.

Here we go...

The Bad: British Petroleum screwed up big-time with this oil spill.  They took short cuts in anticipation of profits.  They lied about the scope of the incident and they seem to be handling this with the same dexterity of a baby bear cub fondling his new-found penis while wearing boxing gloves.  (I heard that somewhere years ago and have been looking for a chance to use it ever since.)

The Good: BP has 96,200 employees.  My guess is that a handful are responsible for this incident.  All of the others are hard working people trying to do a good job while providing for their families. 

The Bad: Is it just me or had anyone else noticed that government jobs are often filled by people that cannot succeed in the private sector.  I look at people like the director of Homeland Security and think, "Really?  Is she the best we can do?"  Government agencies tend to be bloated, highly bureaucratic, slow to change and lack accountability.  I have been dealing a lot with immigration lately.  They do not use fax machines, telephones or email.  The only way to communicate with them is via snail mail.
The Good:  There are a lot of highly skilled people that occasionally rise to the top.  When they do, they really make a difference.  I realize that a lot of this has to do with pay.  Why would a super talented person work for the government when he/she can make millions in the private sector? 

The Bad: Our school systems are so poorly managed that they can't find a way to reach out and grab the lifeline that technology is dangling in front of them.  Replace text books with electronic readers and save a few billion the first year.
The Good:  We have teachers that spend 80 hours a week, 10 months out of the year doing the best with what they are given.  In California, the student to teacher ratio is so poor that if an English teacher assigns everyone a paragraph to write, she has 250 paragraphs to grade over the weekend.  If you see a teacher or a soldier - be sure to tell them "thanks."


The Bad: It sure has been raining a lot here in northern California.
The Good: When the sun comes out, its beautiful.

So, for every Ying there is a Yang.  Without the darkness, would we ever appreciate the light?  The best feeling in the world is when an ice cream headache goes away.  That is when I remember to appreciate not having a headache.

j