Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Did you miss me?

Back from points north, some observations:

-American airports need more immigrants, especially from Mexico. Why? Because when you deplane carrying, for instance, a cat in a carrier, and find that you have to traverse the entire airport to get to your next flight, if this were Tijuana, there would be a brace of young men offering their strong arms to carry packages and competing for the honor of working for you for ten or twenty bucks and you would be overjoyed to hire them given the complete absence of carts or transport.

-Bring on the de-icing. The more the merrier. Better living through chemistry.

-Snack-paks. The $5.00 meal of the future. You don't get a lot of food but it's really fun because there are about ten different packages in there, all with pretty pictures. By the time you've unwrapped them all you feel like it's Christmas.

-It would help to be shorter. At 5'6 the Cow felt about 3 inches too tall for whoever the airlines were designed for.

-Perhaps there's an inverse relationship between distance to the job interview and recompense. The farther you come, the more they're willing to pay you, apparently. Plus all the extras.

-No one tells you ahead of time that if you're carrying on a pet, at security you have to take it out of the carrier and hold it walking through the metal detector while they x-ray the carrier, then get it back into the carrier. Scary.

-People are astoundingly nice at airports. Complete strangers will help you get your cat carrier through security. Complete strangers will sit with the cat while you run to the bathroom. Complete strangers, in this case, soldiers returning from Iraq, will give up their seats in crowded waiting areas to make room for a small female and her cat and then entertain you with stories while you wait. Airport personnel are outstandingly caring when you travel with a pet.

- Sherpa cat carriers are excellent (unsolicited endorsement). They are sturdy, have zippers in all the right places and survived an 18-hour trip in excellent shape.

-American Airlines got a lot of bad publicity but everything ran smoothly and on-time despite their MD-80 travails.

-Topiary travels well, but did need a spot of ironing upon arrival.

Moo!

10 Comments:

Blogger Kevin Musgrove said...

Good to see you had a nice trip!

Spare a thought for those of us travelling in steerage taller than 5'6! Manchester to Chicago in the crash position isn't funny.

Airports are one of the last bastions of community spirit in adversity.

1:30 PM  
Blogger Gorilla Bananas said...

I never knew cats could travel in the passenger area. I think they must be checked-in as cargo for most airlines.

1:46 PM  
Blogger The Topiary Cow said...

Kevin:

Yes, tall people are definitely at a disadvantage when utilizing any type of mass transit!

Gorilla:

Yes indeedy.

With an approved travel carrier (nylon with plenty of airholes), and the total weight of carrier and pet is less than 20 pounds, and you have the appropriate veterinarian certificates, you can carry on one pet per passenger, limit of 5 per airplane. Advance reservations are required, and they hit you for a special charge of $100 per pet.

Internationally it may be different, and since airlines limit the flight length to 12 hours you could probably not bring your small gorilla pet with you across the Atlantic.

Moo!

2:42 PM  
Blogger From the Doghouse said...

I'm glad you had such a good experience, it's nice to hear the positives.

8:35 AM  
Blogger Supermom said...

Inquiring minds want to know... are you taking the job?

(missed you)

11:20 AM  
Blogger Webmaster said...

Agree on the height issue. Last time I flew, I banged my head a few times, and I'm not just real tall.
[sigh]

12:29 PM  
Blogger watercolordaisy said...

Glad you are back safely.

4:02 PM  
Blogger The Topiary Cow said...

Thank you!

Sandi, Cow thinks you are just the right height. The planes are too short though.

Moo!

10:31 AM  
Blogger Webmaster said...

Thanks, TC. You're a good height also. Wonder if the first class section is any better?

7:48 AM  
Blogger The Topiary Cow said...

Cow would luuuuve the opportunity to find out.

Moo!

10:50 AM  

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