Blog on a Plane: The Sequel

A few of you might remember this post that I "penned" several months ago while I sat for half of my life in a plane on a runway in DC. Well, my luck with airplanes is creeping up again, much to the dismay of the 120 or so angry people sitting here with me. A quick recap:

11:15- I arrived at the airport a hour before my flight and while I was standing in line, 7 foot 7 inches of Manute Bol walked by. Really hard to miss that guy. People, myself included, were staring at him as if he were a singing purple elephant. Somehow I guess my stare was the hardest and he said hi to me, I returned the salutation. We're homies now except that I'm not sure he heard me since his ears aren't really visible when your eyes are as low to the ground as mine are.

11:28- The kind lady checking my bag tells me my 12:15 flight to Chicago is delayed an hour or more and that my connecting flight will likely take off the instant my plane lands so I have no chance of making it. Sweet. I check my bag in and wonder what the odds are that I'll see it again . . . ever.

11:40- Pizza for lunch makes everything better . . . for now.

11:55-1:10- Popped out the lap top and got a bunch of work done. I had at least 6 different phone conversations that must've bugged the guy sitting six inches from me. Sorry, dude.

1:10- We board and hear the pleasant apologies for the "mechanical delay." (wouldn't that be a good name for a rock band?!) Manute is on the plane with me! There's never been a better candidate for a seat with a bit of extra leg room. His legs are longer than my Honda.

1:55- About 20 minutes after take off the captain, in that bizarre captain voice, tells us, "folks, we're experiencing some pressurization problems, nothing to worry about, but we're turning around and flying back to Kansas City." Clearly, this is "nothing to worry about," that's why he's willing to risk the fury of 120 angry people and call "DO OVER."

2:30- It's so good to be home . . . but not really. The plane is hot and people are exactly as pleasant as you would expect. Shortly after we land the captain faces the passengers and starts playing "When The Saints Go Marching In" on his harmonica. He then starts telling bad jokes and let's us know that in the 60 combined years of experience that the crew has they've "never seen anything like this."

2:55- We are asked to de-plane deplane. (good one, huh?!) We're doing this so they can "test the pressurization." The captain explains that if we were to stay on board during the on-ground pressurization it "wouldn't be very pleasant." (by which he means our heads with either explode or implode unless we get off the plane) We quickly get our stuff and walk back into the terminal - all the while with our fingers in our ears just in case . . .

3:25- Big update, they just announced that there's now "weather" (whatever that means) in Chicago . . . so that should help our chances a lot. We're also told that we've had seats reserved on later connecting flights and should all be able to get where we want to go tonight. As a sign that we buy what we're being told, there's a line forming of people wanting to re book for tomorrow.