Back and not too happy about it

About 24 hours ago, my plane took off from Paris, and 9 hours later landed in Chicago. I was not a happy camper. It is always sad leaving Paris, because there are always sweet memories there. One of the most romantic moments in my life was in Paris about a year and a half ago, and that was where it remained. Nothing ever came out of it, but I'll always have Paris. Very cliche, but now I understand why it is so!

Now, let's get to the less romantic stuff and talk about another exciting flying experience, and by exciting I mean full of crappy surprises. The flying part itself doesn't even bother me anymore, I have done it so much, it's like "OK, whatever, another flight!" When I was a kid, I never flew anywhere, so it was a little exotic the first time it happened, but that excitement was long lost. What I never managed to get was a decent flying partner, meaning, I always end up sitting to someone that I could have the least in common with. Never someone my age, who is normal, and wants to just chat, at least every once in a while. Again yesterday, I got on the plane, and granted this one had way too few young people, there were some nevertheless, and none of them sat next to me. Finally, an old lady, that I later discovered had just turned 70, came and sat down by me, and the walk from the door of the plane to the seat got her out of breath, and I thought that I would have to watch her the rest of the flight to make sure she doesn't suddenly stop breathing. We didn't talk about half the flight, then we started chatting and didn't stop till we landed. It's really comforting to know that I have a lot of things to talk about with a 70 year old. But I do have to say, she had the spirit of a 20 year old. I mean this lady was born in 1937, imagine all the things she's been through, but she was on a plane, talking about the 10 days of fun she just had with her sisters in Paris, and how they rented a little apartment by the Eiffel Tower and toured around the city. I love it!

One of the things we had in common was our hatred for one of the flight attendants. She was this older lady maybe in her 50s or early 60s, probably close to retirement. She was the crabbiest person I had come across in the past 3 weeks. She was yelling at passengers like they were little kids, and so loud that everyone around heard her. If you weren't finished with your food or drink when she came around collecting trash, she rolled her eyes, and when she'd come back later she'd say: "NOW are you done?" I mean, I have never seen anything like this, I may actually report her to the airlines. She was SO rude to people, that I was afraid to ask her for a sugar for my coffee when she walked around. She did not smile once. I don't expect everyone in the services sector to be always charming with clients, but when you're a flight attendant, you have limits of how you can behave with passengers who aren't even being rude, and just have normal requests. It was something else. I think her name is Pam, and I am sure this will not be the first time Pam gets complaints.

Last, but certainly not least, there are two people that I'd rather not run into or see wherever I go, and usually I don't. One of them works in the city where I work and not too far away from me, so sometimes I spot him from afar and change my route slightly. The other, I have not seen in years, but last I heard he was living in California, married to a woman who will surely become one of those women who wear mommy jeans and shirts and vests with mommy floral patterns. You know those jeans with the high elastic waist and enough room in the butt area just in case she needs to ever wear them with Depends. Anyway, I hadn't even thought about this guy in years. I get to the gate to sit around before my flight, and he was right there. The funny thing is that the first thought I had was: "what is he doing in Paris?" I am sure it wasn't vacation, because I didn't see his wife with him, so I am not sure. Maybe he was connecting there from somewhere or just ended there by mistake. He's not the type who would go abroad to absorb the culture, you know, the people who think they're world travelers because they have been to Disney World.

Well, I could not believe it, one of the two people I would never want to run into was on my flight. Wait, actually now there are three people, counting that blogger low life who got on my last nerve with her stupid emails a couple of months ago. But she's also the type that would think going to a big city is an adventure, so I would definitely pass out if I ever saw her in an airport abroad.

Anyway, my biggest problem now is that I'm back here and I have to get back to reality but 10:30 tomorrow morning, at the latest. But hey, at least I didn't have luggage problems this time, so it's all good.