Why flying commercially is soooo frustrating…..

Some of you may have noticed that I went to TX last weekend. We went for a graduation/vacation combination and we had, overall, a great time.

The problem with any travel really seems to be in the rush to get there, in particular in the flying… the commercial flights.

When flying was new, it used to be an adventure to fly, back then looking out the window and the novelty of being suspended in the air was enough to assuage any inconvenience due to the weather or ones schedule The flight itself was so much a novelty that discomforts and delays were expected and people rolled with the flow.

Those days are gone.

Now we are slaves to our own schedule, in such a rush to get there to start enjoying our time we forget the journey is half the trip. Hurry up and wait…. Ugh, so annoying. I myself was totally annoyed by the fact we were 12 hours late due to the weather. We could have almost driven, almost. We would have missed eating at the airport TGI Fridays though! The problem is not all us it also has to do with the commercial viability of keeping an airline in business. You see we feel packed in like sardines because they have to sell enough seats to stay in business. Try and remember that next time you are stuck in the middle seat between Mr B.O. and Mrs. Hacking-her-lungs-out like she has SARS for three hours until your next destination. We feel like they treat us like idiots, because there are a lot of idiots out there and they are all free to use the same airline system as the rest of us. We feel like security measures are restrictive, but that is because they have to be. That is the world we now live in. Seems like there has to be a better way, right?

Lets face it, flying first class does not really help. A cushier seat and a better meal only will go so far help ease the inconvenience of today’s airline traveler. Although I will admit, from time to time on a select flight I find it hard to pass up these little luxuries. The do somehow make you feel better, getting just a little extra attention. I am afraid of what that says about us all as well.

So what is the solution? I have none. I would tell you to slow down and enjoy the ride but I hate giving advice I find hard to follow myself. I would say things will get better, but I think we all know that is not going to happen. I would like to say that people will slow down and learn to strike a balance in their schedule but hell I could barely type that out I was laughing so hard. Maybe someday, travel will have the same romantic-adventure feel of the old days when flying was new or maybe those days like so many other things, are just gone forever.