On Angry Airport Mobs

We arrived at LAX around 3:30 am, anticipating trouble with our tickets. Aer Lickus, in addition to jigsaw puzzling our preferred set of plans, re-booked our first leg to Boston through Jet Blue. What happens when the powers of two substandard airlines combine? Nothing that bad, actually.

Unable to print our boarding passes at the self-service kiosk, we became the third party in a growing ticketing line full of agitated Jet Blue regretters. As we waited, we learned the ticket counter opens two hours before the first scheduled flight. Our flight was scheduled for 6:30, so I pulled out a book, making myself comfortable for the wait. At 4 am, many in the increasingly antsy crowd behind us learned that the 6 am flight to San Francisco had been canceled.

Murmurs in the crowd behind us were becoming louder, ruder, and more frequent. People were the type of mad that people become when their day is ruined by some slipshod airline, which could really be any of them. The woman directly behind me was particularly frustrated with the Blue. She aired her grievances very loudly to no one in particular.

“Shitty-ass airline... motherfucking Jet Blue. How the fuck are they just gonna cancel without telling anyone? That’s no way to treat people. That's not how you treat people.”

Cristina and I found ourselves at an early hurdle in our journey. On the one hand, the mood surrounding us was clearly going south. It would be easy, nay, understandable, to fear the worst. On the other hand, we had no particular reason to become anxious just yet. Our flight was still scheduled for 6:30, so we saw no reason to lose hope until 4:35. It wasn’t easy to remain uninfluenced by the angry mob behind us. Somehow, we persevered.

When the woman behind me umpromptedly prompted me to testify and share my negative experience with Jet Blue, I answered that I had yet to have one.

“But I hear they really suck,” I added a lame footnote, desperate to be accepted by this representative of the crowd. She wasn’t impressed.

“Well, they aren’t that bad.” She countered, willing to contradict her initial point just to disagree with me. She said something nice to Cristina, who responded in kind. They became fast friends, bonding over their mutual disdain for me.
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Bringing people together – one of the many little things I do that make me a great boyfriend.