Thursday, August 14, 2008

Weekend Wrap Up (Yes, I'm a little slow)

This past weekend, I had the wonderful opportunity to go to a wedding of one of my college roommates. The best things about this wedding were (in no particular order):
a) it was in the Bay, so I got to show my boyfriend around SF and try to convince him it's a great place to live
b) all 6 of my college roommates attended the wedding weekend and I got to catch up with all of them
c) I got to meet lots of my friend's family and friends from other walks of her life, which was great (and they were all great!)
d) the weather was awesomely beautiful and we spent most of our time outdoors
e) the hotel was really nice and we were greeted with a huge basket of goodies upon our arrival
f) Alex got to meet all of said roommates and their significant others. He got to hang with the boys and he got along great with everyone.
g) the wedding was at a winery and went off without a hitch. I am hoping the three future weddings I have on my calendar go off in a similar manner.
h) they played Jimmy Buffett and "I Will Survive" at the wedding, which got all of us roomies singing at the top of our lungs and dancing around.
i) The photographer told me I was alot of fun to photograph since I was constantly dancing with someone - isn't that what a wedding is supposed to be?
j) We flew Northwest airlines and every flight was on time or early. Minneapolis is a great place to stop because they have lots of moose-related paraphernalia.
k) Public transportation in SF and throughout the Bay is amazing - on time, clean, stops are well pronounced - they even tell you where the cars will stop and people line up to get on the cars! The bus drivers are friendly and helpful and the bus system is so easy to figure out.
l) I got a lovely new ring from a street vendor making them right there!
m) We flew into San Jose which is a little tiny airport, but no lines for security or checking in!
n) I actually sat next to some pretty interesting people on the flight out. Had interesting conversations and learned some new things.
o) I got to rent a cute little yellow car that was super fun to drive (Chevy Cobalt, maybe?)

Very few things went wrong, but since they all went wrong at once, I feel a letter is needed:

Dear PHL,
I fly out of you on a fairly regular basis and I've been to many, many airports. I just can't figure out why things constantly go wrong at your particular airport. I have sat on the ground waiting to take off for hours and I can't figure out if you just are dumb and you schedule too many flights or if you genuinely get backed up every day for various reasons. We arrived early on Sunday night - landed at 11pm (instead of 11:20pm) and there was no place for our plane to park and deplane people. We then proceeded to wait for 2.5 hours on the tarmac for a place to park. We did not get off the plane until 1:30am, at which time all the restrooms are closed. Northwest is handing us vouchers or $25 off our next flight because we had to wait so long. I don't feel like this is Northwest's fault. I think it's PHL's fault and they should have to pay for it. The restroom that was open had no soap and there was a huge line for taxis since the train was no longer running (because, why would public transportation run after midnight?). I think the entire scenario was highly unorganized and not well planned. There should be an area where people can pull up a stairwell and get off the goddamn plane. I have no problem getting off a plane and walking or taking a shuttle. I understand this scenario might involve planning and some form of intelligence, but I think you can handle it. Oh, and while you're at it, could you ask people to be a little bit nicer? I've been to other airports where the TSA is actually nice to you, the people checking your luggage do not grunt at you and the people boarding you are friendly and nice. Think about changing your attitude a bit. It might make situations like this more bearable.
Thanks for your consideration,
ceedee

1 comment:

Randi said...

The name on my camera bag is "Tamrac" and every time I look at it I think it should be "tarmac."
The End