Our return trip wasn’t scheduled to begin until after 2, so we decided to sleep in and meet up at noon in the hotel lobby. We then figured out how to take the train to the airport, which took a bit of doing as most of the sign was in Japanese. (Kansans tend to be proud of themselves when they master mass transit!) We were very early on purpose, but the airport is nice and had plenty of shopping opportunities and we were able to eat a leisurely lunch. We spotted this sign at the entrance to the restaurant:
We flew to Tokyo and had just enough time to get through customs before boarding for LAX. That flight was nice and uneventful, besides some unintentional humor from a flight attendant who thought we were returning from a romantic vacation.
LAX was an experience. I have never been a hater, but it’s always been my destination and I’ve usually come through the Delta terminal which is fairly efficient. We had to change terminals, meaning that we had to come up to the sidewalk/pickup area and go back through security. We had a tight connection and weren’t wasting any time, but when we approached the security line that stretched to the street, we knew we were in trouble. The TSA agent told us to go to the line upstairs (which was just as long, and we’d lose time running) but after repeating that we’d just come in on an international flight and couldn’t help our situation, she finally allowed us to cut in line over the shouts of some irate business travelers. We barely made our flight to Denver.
We saw that we had the aisle and window seat in one row and were hoping the middle was empty. Unfortunately it was not, and was occupied by a 60ish Chinese man. Being nice travelers, we told him we were together and had the seats on either side of him, and asked if he’d like either the aisle or window seat instead of the middle. He chose the aisle.
It was uneventful until beverage service. I think they made their usual announcement about the beverages that were free and the price of beer, wine and cocktails along with snacks, and what sort of payment they accepted. When the flight attendant asked him what he’d like, he asked what his choices were. The flight attendant was a little snippy with him and told him that they were listed in the magazine. Scott and I ordered, and the man said he’d like a snack. The flight attendant told him the price and when he pulled out cash, told him they only accepted cards. This set him off, and he argued with the flight attendant, started yelling, “Stupidest country ever!” threw his magazine and hit the passenger across the aisle in the head with it and then demanded some milk. It was hard not to giggle at his selection since he was being such a baby! He drained that carton and then pounded his tray table and demanded, “more milk!” at which point I was biting my lips to keep from laughing!
He seemed to calm down, and was drinking his milk and munching on a granola bar. Where he got it, I don’t know, but I wasn’t going to ask. I was next to him in the middle seat (as he chose the aisle assigned to me) and he apologized for losing his temper. I ignored him.
Then the flight attendants came through again and he still wanted a snack, so he asked the lady across the aisle if he could give her cash and she’d buy him a snack. Yes, the same lady he’d beaned with his magazine. She told him no.
Then he started telling me it didn’t say anywhere in the magazine that snacks were extra. I told him that yes, it did. Then he said that it didn’t say so on the website when he booked his ticket. I told him again that yes, it did. Then he started shouting that he’d booked a nonstop flight to wherever and that this one stopped. He pulled out his boarding pass he’d printed out and yelled that it said nothing about having to pay for snacks with a card on the boarding pass. Then he asked me if I’d do him a favor and buy a snack for him. I told him no. At that point, he started yelling at me, “I did you favor [by giving up the oh-so-coveted middle seat] now you won’t do me one! I want my seat back! See! That’s my seat! You’re in it and I want it back!” and on and on.
The man in front of him told him to calm down. As much as I wanted to lay into him, I pushed the flight attendant call button and Scott and I asked to be re-seated. Thankfully the flight wasn’t full and there were some seats towards the front of the plane. The flight attendants apologized profusely (and stuck a couple bottles of wine in my bag) and we assured them that this would not discourage us from air travel but rather provide us with a good story to tell. As our bags were at the back of the plane over him, we had to wait until it was mostly clear to go back and retrieve them. He was met by an airline employee and escorted off the plane. What happened to him we don’t know, but the passengers up front with us wanted to hear the story and a lady waiting for a wheelchair joined me in clapping when he was escorted off. (I had to get some sort of last laugh!)
The rest of the trip was uneventful, and I got home at around 7 without my suitcase. It was delivered that night and I begun the process of getting back into a normal sleep pattern! I was sad that the trip had ended so soon, but so grateful for the experience and all the hard work that went into it! Twenty years ago, who would’ve imagined that the little Dutch rabbit I bought would take me so many places?
Sign of the Day
I have noticed that pictures of people behaving badly in airports always look like Americans!
