It is Friday and Fridays are for fun. Some people travel for fun. I guess I do too but there is often a business reason for the trip . . and the fun comes later.
This particular plane was struck by lightening a short time after take off. There was no damage to the plane. There was a flight delay but it wasn't the airlines fault this time. Air travel has gotten a bit more friendly in recent months. On the last two flights I took they had free cookies, peanuts and beverages. We didn't actually get any peanuts on the last flight becasue a passenger on board is allergic to them. I guess that is why they have peanuts if they had pretzels or chips they would actually have to serve them. No one eats the barely edible cookies so they don't actually have to give any of those away either.
It still isn't real friendly. Like when they want you to be at the airport way ahead of time so you can sit around and wait and then they tell you there is a flight delay and they are sorry for the inconvenience. I was once stuck in traffic and I got to the airport 45 minutes before boarding and they said I couldn't fly. How fair is that? I said I was sorry about the delay and for any inconvenience. They did let me on the plane but it took a lot of convincing on my part and I almost missed it when security had to stop the woman in front of me because she had an ankle bracelet on that tripped the metal dector and they had to wait for a female agent and couldn't let any more passengers through until they were done.
I like to count how many times someone tells me they are sorry when I travel. It happens in hotels, restaurants, and airports. I often take public transit from airports to hotels if I can because the only thing I am afraid of besides dust bunnies is taxi drivers. I have had some horrific experiences in cabs including one driver who could not find the airport. I have never heard a taxi driver say they are sorry.
The rudest people I ever encounter at an airport are the people who sit in the information booths. I rarely need information but occasionally I am not smart enough to figure the airport out. It seems like the person in the booth gets very annoyed by people who ask questions. Maybe I am not supposed to ask questions but I don't know of any other way to get information from the booth.
As a traveler I make mistakes too. Like last week I lost my drivers license. No you don't want to know what happens if you don't have a photo ID, or if a small bottle of shampoo slips out of the plastic baggie and into your suite case or if you are very tired and it is late and you forget to take your laptop out of the bag. None of it is very pretty and when it comes to security no one says they are sorry except for me and I mostly mean it.
I always have cameras with me when I travel. They are like a pacifier. If I can look out the window and shoot a few I won't cry much. It is too bad that I missed a shot of that lightening bolt, it all happend so fast. . sorry about that.
Have a great weekend and stay in St. Paul, I know I will.
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I never understood that either. It seems that the employees in the information booths are the least knowledgeable and friendly people in the airport. And that’s saying something. I guess its kind of a murphy’s law….just like animal control officers that don’t like animals.
That’s a pretty remarkable photo! I love the clouds in the upper right, but they’re all spectacular.
The HDR on that pic is great.
On another note. My little sister (12y/o) flew for the first time ever just over 4 months ago. In a string of strange coincidences, she got interviewed before getting on the plane, and bumped up to first class as she was boarding. I really hope she doesn’t get the impression that this is what flying is like every single time!