Preface:
I teach an Introduction to Literature class at Central
Methodist University that focuses on Travel/Journey. We start with the epic
poem, The Odyssey, read Jules Verne’s
Around the World in Eighty Days, Herman
Melville’s Moby Dick and some other texts,
and end with Octavia Butler’s haunting novel Beloved. One of the things
we emphasize in this class is that it’s not about the destination, but rather
about the journey itself.
I’m finally starting to believe that I may actually be full
of crap. The journey sometimes sucks.
FRIDAY JUNE 29, 2012
Columbia, MO – Columbia, MO (leg 1)
The first leg of my trip to Innsbruck involved being taken
to the location from where I would pick up a shuttle to St. Louis – Lambert
International Airport. I asked my friend
Sharon to take me to the location, which is only a few miles away, mostly
because I’m cheap. I’ll admit it. I know when I’m acting that way. This was by
far the best leg of the journey. I got to spend a few minutes with my friend
and she is a delight. I also expressed to her my unusually high level of
anxiety for this particular trip. It was unusual because two years ago when I
went to teach in Innsbruck, I was in a particularly precarious situation in
that days after I returned I would move to Columbia, MO, attend a faculty
orientation and start a new job & a new life. This time I am coming home to
a good, stable job, lovely friends and a great life. Perhaps I am prescient.
Columbia, MO – STL (leg 2)
This leg started out quite nicely. There was a white guy
with Dred locks playing the guitar softly and it was lovely. I finished up some
Words with Friends games and then decided I would try to take a nap. Yet there
was one woman on the shuttle who talked nonstop. She was talking to a person,
but he rarely interjected, so it seemed more like a monologue than anything
else. The things she was saying were not clear even with her explicating them
in detail. I did manage to nap a little on this portion of my trip, but that’s
woman’s voice was irritating me to no end. There were also a lot of loud phone
talkers on this particular shuttle as well.
I enjoy my phone as much as the next person, but I do think there are
times when it’s appropriate and when it’s not. Also, it depends on how many
people there are who are doing the same thing. For example, it seemed very natural
for me to partake in a long cell phone conversation on the train from
Ronkonkoma to Penn Station because everyone else was. There were eight people in this shuttle, so
it made it extremely awkward and weird.
STL - DTW (leg 3)
Upon arriving at the airport, there was already a scene in
progress. A woman had collapsed near the Delta baggage drop area. It was
unclear exactly what was wrong. The other passengers in the line were surmising
that it could have been heat stroke or dehydration because of the 90-odd degree
temperature already at noon. Two kind military personnel along with one of the
baggage drop customer service agents were tending to this woman, which was
nice, but this caused our wait in line to drop off our checked baggage to be
even longer. Finally, when I did get up to another customer service
representative, I put my bag up and it weighed 55 lbs. The limit, mind you, is
50 lbs. If I were going to try and send the bag as is, it would have cost me an
extra $100 (notice the theme of my frugality here). So I removed some items and
put them into my checked bag. She would allow a bag that was 52 lbs without
charging the fee, but that was all she could do. After 2 attempts at removing
things, I finally decided I needed to wear my sweatshirt and then my luggage
was checked directly to Munich.
In STL, I didn’t have a lot of time to sit down. I think I
was only sitting for about 30 minutes before I had to board the plane. Of the
many benefits of my SkyMiles Delta Gold Card is that I am automatically put in
Boarding Group 1, in addition to checking my first bag for free, which gives me
more time to settle in to my seat. Once I got to the front, however, I was told
that my regulation-size roller bag needed to be checked and I would be able to
pick it up on the jetway in Detroit. This is one of the things that is a perk
about flying, but also a disadvantage. Airlines charge people an excruciating
amount of money to check bags, so most people now travel short trips with only
carry-ons and even those end up being checked. The only good thing about this
is that the airline can NOT charge to stow the carry-ons. Thank goodness for small favors.
The plane ride to DTW was fairly pleasant. The woman sitting
next to me was reading The Hunger Games,
while I was reading a copy of Marie
Claire that I hadn’t gotten to read when I was at home. I didn’t sleep this
leg and finished the whole magazine. I even offered it to my seatmate since all
I was going to do was leave it in the seat pocket for the next passenger—paying
it forward, if you will.
Our trip to the Detroit Metro area was lengthened because
the plane was diverted away from some of the thunderstorms that were taking
place in the area. This made us about 15 minutes late for our arrival.
More on legs 4, 5 & 6 in my next blog.
To be continued…
