Shanghai Surprise

Another view of Lake St. Clair

The surprise is the trip went very well.

The last minute packing and organizing was no problem with my faux computer bag, aka Trader Joe's insulated zippered grocery bag. It was the cheapest option for carry-on luggage that I could handle and put in the overhead. It is hell being a short person.

Big Daddy told me of his fiasco checking in, so I just went to the curb side check-in and this big black woman tried to help me and told me that I could not check-in there. She gathered my bags and took me to Miss Nancy and got me all taken care of. And she told me George Clooney is a hunk in real life and a really nice person. The movie, Up In The Air, used DTW for filming. The Sky Club or whatever they call it these days was full to the gills, I have never seen so many people crammed into so little space. I was lucky to get a seat. And the flight attendants were fairly good, not great but not nasty.

We flew well into Russia and the terrain was fascinating, looked like frozen flat tundra with frozen flat rivers cracking into the ground. One thing I appreciate from all my travels is seeing places I never dreamed of being able to see. The Alps, Russia and Great Britain from the air, driving in Mexico and walking in Asia. It is daunting to think I have these memories and there are people in Detroit that have never seen a farm or a forest or a beach.

Of course baggage claim was the usual cluster fuck and this time led by the Europeans. I think they decided to take on the Chinese for rude and obnoxious behavior. However they do understand when you call them out for being an imbecile. They don't care, but they do know that you know. They also feel the pain of the odd baggage hitting their shins. I was blocked in by 2 Asians not allowing me to pull my bag to the cart and a big black man speaking English dove in to help me out. Contact sport finals, me no contact, them 3 shins and 4 feet.

Scary part, I actually feel that I am home. Home is where the heart is, Big Daddy is here.

Flight Attendants

You know all this flap going on about David Letterman and Sarah Palin has me wondering. There is huge discussion on Dave, on Sarah, on everything except the fact that Dave is calling flight attendants SLUTTY.

Now I have seen my share of FA's and slutty has never come to mind. Snotty, wicked, nasty, rude, loony, whiny, and yes the one in a million decent human being. But never slutty.

Slutty infers many things to many people but none of the above.

And makeup does not define a slut. Smeared, gooey, runny and streaked makeup is slutty, but so is filthy ripped clothing and ratty hair. Most FA's makeup is either flawless (and they will do nothing to disturb their lipstick) or non-existent. Ever see an FA at 6AM-you won't be looking at a Vogue model.

There are only 2 FA's I can still picture in my mind and another that I will never forget for his lazy ass retort. The ladies I remember for quite different reasons. The middle aged blond of the perfect makeup and hair sprayed enough to be a fire risk-I saw her on many a DTW departure-telling a short Asian lady that did not speak or understand english how she could not help her with her bag. She said she couldn't help her (in first class) in case she might hurt her back. OK, so heavy lifting is not your job. However, it is your job to get the passengers seated and ready for take-off and arguing with a lady that does not understand english in the front of the plane is stupid. Period. It is stupid. Then there was the MSY flight. When we were boarding we were told by the announcer, the ticket taker, and then the FA that this would be a very bumpy flight and there would be no cabin service. The FA was quite nasty and adamant (mentioned this multiple times). Okay, (first class again) the pilot comes on the speaker and says "bumpy". Now when a pilot tells you bumpy- for me it is scary time. So we fly to Memphis with this harridan glaring at me for an hour without one fucking bump. And not a stitch of makeup or hairdo on that bitch's head.

So why is there no cry of outrage by or for SLUTTY flight attendants? They object to surly but like slutty? WTF.