Monday, November 4, 2013

See the World

Every time I take a flight, I think of the best ways to deal with people who steal my seat on the plane and then refuse to move: 1) Move to another seat; 2) Head-butt them; 3) Smear airplane food all over their clothes; 4) Make them listen to my Nothing but Britney and Nothing but Taylor Swift playlists.

The last time I took a flight was a few weeks ago, and just as I feared, some jerk insisted on taking my seat because she couldn't bear being apart from her boyfriend for a few hours. I should have put my foot down and made her move, because I paid extra money to reserve my seat in advance. That was MY seat, and she had no right to take it. And the thing is, these losers steal my seat and then refuse to move almost EVERY TIME I TAKE A FLIGHT.

Instead, I ended up sitting in a seat nearby, which turned out to be broken because I couldn't adjust it. I spent half the flight dry heaving into a barf bag, partly because I got airsick, and partly because I was sick of the couple sitting beside me who looked like they were sucking each other's lips off.

When I was at the airport, I tried to buy a box of Band-Aids because I accidentally cut my finger opening a candy bar. (Maybe I should start eating fruit more often?) But one small box of Band-Aids cost more than six dollars! After the flight I had, I was ready to start head-butting people. But I didn't.

I think what was really bothering me was the fact that I had to take a week off from school in order to go to my parents' home in another state and take care of their dogs while my parents went on a trip. They travel frequently, and almost every time they do, I go to their home to take care of the dogs.

I love Neurotic Jr. and Jane Dog very much, even though Jane Dog threw up on my jeans once. I don't want them to be put in a kennel, because I know they would be very frightened and unhappy. I wish I could have them with me all the time, but my building doesn't allow dogs. (I think they should throw out the people who scatter trash all over the hallway and pass out in front of my door and let the dogs live in the building instead. The dogs would be much less trouble and less likely to get drunk on a regular basis.)

But it's a huge hassle to keep taking time off from work. Taking care of two dogs also takes up a lot of time, so much so that I was barely able to work on my dissertation while I was there. It also bothered me that I've hardly done any traveling at all in more than a decade.

I went to New Orleans last year, but that wasn't my choice; it was for a relative's wedding. I went to Kentucky to review AP English literature exams, but that was for work. While other people in their twenties went on road trips or backpacked through Europe, I was shelving books at a bookstore, folding clothes at a clothing store, teaching undergrads and grading papers, tutoring, teaching high school students, and doing work for my website job. I was determined to be independent by earning my own money.

I used to envy the customers at the bookstore who bought maps and guides to other cities or countries. I bought travel narratives by people like Alice Steinbach, who wrote two wonderful books about what it was like to be a single woman traveling on her own. I dreamed about the places that I wanted to visit someday, if only I had the time and money: New York City. Boston. Seattle. London. Rome. Tokyo. Madrid. And so on and so on.

I have some money saved up that's separate from my emergency fund. I've finally decided that sometime this year (maybe during the summer) I'm going to take a weekend trip to New York City, because I've always wanted to go there. (I'd like to stay longer, but I can only afford to go there for a few days.) I'm going to be the typical tourist: big shorts, I Heart New York T-shirt, camera, maps, and all. Even though I am and always will be a workaholic with an aversion to vacations (I use school vacations to catch up on work and clean my apartment), I still think I should start traveling more and see the world. I think I've earned that right.

What about you? Do you do a lot of traveling? If you do, where have you gone? If you haven't, where do you think you'd like to go?

20 comments:

  1. I can't believe people steal seats! Maybe that's why Southwest just lets people sit wherever they want. Seems to work better... Can't you technically have the flight attendant make someone move if they've stolen your seat? With some airlines charging more for window/aisle seats, seat assignments are definitely going to have to be enforced!

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    1. Hi Stephanie,
      There have been one or two times where I stood my ground and refused to give up my seat, but this one particular jerk was so insistent that I gave in. I shouldn't have, though, and I won't make that mistake again. I saw a similar situation on a different flight where a different jerk threw a temper tantrum and refused to move, and the flight attendant forced the guy whose seat she stole to move to a different seat in the back of the plane..

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  2. Nobody can take your seat without your permission. Nobody can deny you a vacation you never ask for.

    Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent. -Eleanor Roosevelt

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    1. Hi mmarinaa,
      I especially like the last line in that quote. One time it was tricky because a soldier took my seat so he could sit next to his friend; I thought if I said no people would think I was unpatriotic. But I'm not giving up my seat again. It's not worth the resentment I end up feeling or the barf bags.

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  3. I've never had someone steal my seat on a plane ride, I didn't even know that was doable.

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    1. Hi Melanie,
      What usually happens is that I'm one of the last people to board the plane, because I usually get a seat near the front and they always seat the people at the front last. And then some selfish creep who got on the plane before me always ends up taking my seat. I only stood my ground and refused to give up my seat once, but I need to do that every time; I can't stand it anymore.

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  4. I have never had someone steal my seat on a plane! How rude!
    For the most part the only traveling I've done has been for horse shows. And usually the only part of the city I see is the fairgrounds! But I'd love to travel more someday, too. You definitely deserve a trip! I hope you enjoy it!

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    1. Hi Rachel,
      It's very rude to steal other people's seats, especially since I paid extra to reserve my seat in advance. That's what those people should have done, rather than take what didn't belong to them. That's what I'll say the next time someone tries to take my seat.
      And I think I will enjoy a trip to New York. I've always wanted to see the city I've only seen on TV or in the movies or read about in books.

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  5. I haven't travelled as much as I'd like to. I'm hoping to be able to do more soon. So definitely go to New York and tell me all about it!!

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    1. Hi Annalisa,
      I'll definitely be writing at least one blog post about the trip; I've heard that New York is very different from Chicago, so I'm intrigued. I hope you get to do more traveling too!

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  6. I've never had a seat stolen. Probably because I'm always on a bad mood when flying and people take one look at my scowling face and back off. But if it happened, I'd definitely speak up! I like a window seat so I can read and ignore everything. That's the only way to get through a long flight without wanting to kill myself.

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    1. Hi Karen,
      I prefer aisle seats so that I don't have to climb over people to get to the restroom. I will speak up the next time someone steals my seat, and I know it will happen again. I think that my getting the seat that I paid for is more important than a clingy girlfriend not being separated from her boyfriend for a few hours.

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  7. Definitely start traveling! It's the best thing ever. I don't do nearly as much of it as I would like to, but I don't regret a single trip I've taken, even when I couldn't really afford it and people judged me.

    I can't believe people take your seats! It does put you in a tough spot, because if you refuse, they'll be grumpy and you're stuck w/ them on the plane the whole way. Awkward. Though apparently THEY don't mind being a jerk.

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    1. Hi Nicki,
      The people who steal my seats are total jerks, especially since they should have thought to reserve their seats ahead of time, like I always do. So I end up losing out due to their own laziness. Next time I'm not giving up my seat, no matter what.
      Those people shouldn't have judged you for traveling, because it's an experience that you can learn from and that you can just enjoy. I spent so much time working that I never got to travel; now I've finally decided that a trip (albeit a brief one) is one that I've earned.

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  8. my gosh girl...does weird stuff just flock to you?? this is like a bridget jones diary entry! it's kinda funny in a quirky way. in the end, sucks to hear all that happened to such a sweet person! sue them all...every last one of them even if it doesn't make sense. ok, ok, maybe just silently in your head....

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    1. Hi Tammy,
      I think weirdness does flock to me, especially because just this morning a creep on the street just grabbed my arm and tried to drag me away with him. I ran away. And that's not even the FIRST time some loser tried to do that to me. Sometimes living in Chicago can be too much. (Sorry. I'm just a little freaked out right now by the whole experience.) Anyway, thanks for the Bridget Jones compliment, though! I liked that book. I'm MAD at Helen Fielding regarding Mark Darcy in her newest book, though.

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  9. A trip to NYC would be fun! I like traveling, but not for too long. I'm a homebody. I really prefer to be in my humble abode.

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    1. Hi Emily,
      I'm a homebody too; I don't know if I could be the kind of traveler who's in a different place every month (though admittedly that would be interesting). But I think that it will be fun to finally go to a city I've always wanted to visit. I want to go to that Serendipity 3 cafe, the one that was featured in that movie with John Cusack.

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  10. But how does that happen? Don't they need to ask the hostess? Doesn't the hostess check?

    Anyhow, NYC! YAY!

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    1. Hi Deniz,
      One time the flight attendant let the person who stole someone else's seat (it wasn't mine) keep it, since that jerk threw a temper tantrum. I hope it doesn't happen on my next flight, because otherwise I will throw a tantrum.

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