Coffee, Tea, or Me?

There are surely as many blogs about the horrors of flying today as there are travelers. Dreadful upon dreadful accounts of luggage traveling to exotic places unbeknownst to its owners,  flight attendants activating life rafts then sliding down along with a coupla brewskies, or ducks caught in a plane's engine causing a landing on the Hudson River. All this have given pause and within reason for those who have developed a fear of flying. 

Yet every so often, even when flying coach, I am pleasantly surprised by a flight attendant who smiles and welcomes you to his/her day at work.  Glad to report that American Airlines fight 17 has been pleasant so far. The Soho Bar at JFK unfortunately cannot be commended for its service, but instead for a decently sized twelve dollar chicken quesadilla that arrived in time to be wrapped to go for boarding. Mind you that Mexican meal came in handy when we sat on the tarmac for two hours due to outbound weather traffic, much to the envy of my seatmate in 25B. But yes, the unintelligible waiter (and pass-the-buck-waiters who deferred to the unintelligible waiter) left much to be desired so it's best to order quick, get your two pre-boarding drinks and grab the check when the order comes! 

Another pleasant surprise is the gentleman named Miguel who commiserated with my restaurant experience, and eventually offered to lift my luggage into the overhead bin. (I do declare that at times, one must rely on the kindness of strangers). Not to mention he laughed at my post Chardonnay free flowing jokes. Too bad this isn't a Virgin American flight where passengers can chat with other passengers individually and/or by group. (Remind me to tell this story for a more intimate evening audience, perhaps my next cabaret "Where In the World Is Anderson Lim?")

All in all not a bad experience today even with the 2hr delay. My friendly seatmate, a Motorola executive (not Miguel) graciously endured my feedback about my new Motorola Xpert's lack of optmal sync-ing with the Facebook app, obviously a worthy topic. And perhaps some tips will come my way on  the next best equipment. These pleasantries are what have not changed since the beginning of travel: a friendly smile, a helpful stranger, and the eternal romance of flight. I don't mind dating myself when I say I miss the glamorous days of travel when flying economy on United included a wonderfully hot meal of chicken, or beef, a glass of wine (Note I was underage ok!), and a delectable dessert capped off by a cup of coffee with a relaxing cigarette (Note once again I was underage and not smoking then - I am merely reminiscing of a time when this was ok and glamorous though we clearly know better now).

There is a slight bitterness as I am not entitled to the Business Class chocolate chip cookies which are clearly warm as the scent wafts this way. But no worries, this is why I baked a mini rum bundt cake, brought my own Tetley tea, and enjoyed this on a petite ceramic plate gingerly placed on a British Airways biz class table cloth I brought from home.