Experiencing History

Washington DC is a quick 4+ hour drive away from 'lil Endicott NY, so the night the nation elected the first African-American president I decided I had to go. This was something not that long ago I was quite certain I would never see happen in my lifetime, but thanks to a superstar candidate and a "perfect storm" of national circumstances... it happened. And thankfully I've got a good friend in DC willing to provide the floor of his very nice condo and an air mattress for a few days, so on Jan 18th I headed down, with a stop in NYC to pick up my big sister who wanted to come along too.

I could go on for a while detailing all I experienced at the Inauguration, but one thing (among several) that struck me was the crowd. We headed out at 7:30am on January 20th to get a spot by a screen on the Mall and ended up midway between the Capital and the Washington Monument. Friends that left around the same time we did were all the way back by the monument so we got a decent spot considering. (I found out later I was close to a NY Met player who showed up without a ticket and stood in the crowd.) Once we settled in our spot, I looked around and was blown away by all the people. The largest crowd I've ever been in up to that point that I was able to quantify was at the Lousiana Superdome, which holds close to 100,000 people, which seemed HUGE to me. And here I was standing in 20 superdomes worth of people. To look forward, back, and around and to see nothing but shoulder to shoulder people for a mile is something else. And with all these people, there was this incredible vibe... a vibe of hope and optimism. It was like nothing I have ever experienced or will probably ever experience again. And to experience it with SO MANY people was just so frickin' cool. Looking around seeing everyone waving their little American flags with joy, seeing broad smiles and eyes filled will tears from the emotion of the moment. It was like the biggest rock concert on earth and more. And something I can recount with pictures and stories to my kids and grandkids, and say, 'I was there'.

This president has inherited a mound of considerably difficult tasks and I don't think anyone there forgot that, but it was incredibly to have a moment where people were able to celebrate history and the hope of a better tomorrow.

"Make my way back home when I learn to fly..."

So I got to fly... sorta. As a part of my "do sh*t I always wanted to do so I'm doing it in my last year of my 20s" list, I went indoor skydiving / windtunnel flying. Long story short, it is both fun and harder than you would think. The instructor my group had was great, but took a very hands-off approach, which meant a lot of flopping around at times. You can't even feel him holding you so it really wouldn't have hurt if he guiding us a bit more in the beginning like the other instructors I observed, but anyway, still a blast to do. I highly recommend it. Everyone should have a "flying" sensation at least once in their lives and this is one of the safest ways to do it. (Because jumping out of an airplane at 10,000 feet ain't for everyone!) I'm a bit of a rollercoaster wimp and even I loved it. Admittedly, reviews from the group were mixed but I think the key is to get an instructor who will give you a comfortable level of support until you know what you're doing.

I recommend to anyone interested (in the northeast) to check out the facility in the Meadowlands that will be complete in the next year. Otherwise, the closest location to NY is in New Hampshire.

I flew for about 3 total minutes (1 minute flights) but here is a brief clip...

The Front of the Bus... err... Plane

I recently made a trip to lovely California. I flew out of Syracuse with a connection in Chicago. For some BS reason that was never really explained (and was later changed to "weather-related" so people wouldn't bitch), my flight was delayed. I arrived in Chicago and I had missed my connection. As I walked around the terminal, something told me to not talk to the counter people by my gate but to walk to the adjacent terminal. So I did and came across this woman who wasn't even at a counter but I asked her to help me. She rolled over to the nearest computer and went looking for the next flight. So she looked and found a flight... with one seat. For whatever reason, the woman says, "let me see if I can get you into first class." So she does some typing and BAM, prints out a 1st class ticket. So I say a few thank yous and happily walk away with my ticket.

When it comes time to board for my flight, there are 36 people on standby due to a separate flight cancellation. And here I am with my golden ticket, so to speak. The first boarding group is announced and I commence my first class experience. I stood up and strolled pass the poor standbies. I make my way to the plane entrance and I take a left (toward the light) to 1st class instead of a right to economy. Now I travel a lot. I splurge on some things but plane travel is definitely one area where I'm fine with being cheap. Therefore, I'm more than content with sitting in economy. BUT it's still GREAT being a chosen one and strutting over to the "good seats".

I've sat in first class before on shorter flights (also by being bumped because of flight delays) but this experience in particular made me think of the class difference and therefore inspired me to do this post. There's a uniqueness about the class separation of first/economy class. It isn't like being in the front/back of the bus where people got separate seats and paid the same rates. People in 1st class are paying nicely for those seats. But this is one case where the differences are just so "in-your-face". I mean, if you stay in a hotel suite, the people in the crammed smokey room aren't looking through and adjacent window at all you're getting. I've been in skyboxes at sporting events and concerts but the people in the cheapseats at those things are separate enough from all the skybox goodness and can't really see all that's going on. But on most planes, you can see/hear the great service in the front section as you get jack squat in economy.

First of all, you sit down and they tell people in economy "for safety reasons, please don't use the first class bathroom". Yeah, sure, "safety". Economy people aren't even good enough for the first class TOILET. And while economy people are still cramming into their seats and fighting for overhead space, I'm up in first class already on my third drink. While economy is told to pay $5 for wine and beer (and your ass better have exact change), unlimited and *complimentary* wine is already flowing in first class. Oh, and in real glasses and not paper cups. Having imbibed a little, and getting comfy after takeoff, I get a warm towel to clean my hands before I partake of my hot food. As I'm finishing off my soup and cutting into my lemon chicken with a real knife on a real plate over a real table cloth, I can hear the announcement for economy that food is not included but snack boxes are available (and your ass better have exact change!) I finish my chicken and fruit, and then I get a warm cookie and milk to wash it down. The flight attendant asks if I need anything every other minute, and I've eatten and drank all I can fit in me, so I lean back and sleep for a bit in my huge, comfy chair until we landed.

Again, this is not a post about me not knowing about first class (or things like it), because I've experienced it before, but I was struck this time by the drastic differences in treatment just inches away and was inspired to post on it.

When we finally land and as I get up, I hear the woman in front of me say, "I paid $1700". What makes this all even better, I didn't pay anything (not even economy price). I flew on my frequent flyer miles. :D Haha!