Thursday, April 16, 2009

Writer’s Workshop - I’ll take that for $400

One of the prompts today at Mama Kat's site is “what would you do if I sent you $400 today”

I’d buy upgrades to first class for the flight home. That would be $300 plus tax and I’d send the rest off to Mama Kat.

The airline hadn’t assigned seats when I made the reservations.  Oh, it *looked* like they had but it turns out those seats I reserved can’t be reserved online, they have to be reserved at the gate or maybe by phone of the 16th. Why? Is it some sort of crowd control or some sort of power trip?

I had 3 seats together in row 6 reserved but no, actually I only have 1 and the boys have no seats. So I called today and they said “well row 4 is open but they can only assign that at the gate. We’ll put you in the last row, which is also open & we can assign."

Have I mentioned I am claustrophobic? I’m not wild about flying because of fear of crashing but also because all these people on this plane are sucking all the oxygen out of the air and I am going to die if I don’t get out and into some air soon. Oddly, I’m ok in the air. The oxygen masks will drop if there is a problem & that seems to switch off the fear.  but they don’t drop if we are on the ground. So the fear sets in. If I am in the first 10 rows generally things move at enough of a pace boarding & exiting that thoughts doesn’t get time to really develop & I can talk myself down. I have real problems with rows about 18 and up. I start sweating & breathing funny, which is why seating arrangement is a deal breaker for booking flights.

I’m in the last row. The whole freaking plane gets to leave before me – taking all the breathable air with them.

I know that is nonsense. The door is open. But the door is way way way over there and there are all these people between me and the air from the door.

In first class you are right by the door. And you have all this space around you that you don’t get in coach. The air flows much easier in first class due to all that space instead of getting trapped between the seats in coach.

They wanted $100 a person to upgrade on the flight down, if Mama Kat gave me $400 I would certainly use it for an upgrade our tickets.

Please check out some more writing prompt linkies over at Mama's Losin It!

10 comments:

Tanyia said...

oooh I hear ya on the upgrading and lack of luv for flying.

If I had 400 bucks, Im thinking I would have a hard time deciding what to buy right now! lol too many little things I want to do!

Jodith said...

As a fellow claustrophobia sufferer, I recommend getting one of those little battery powered fans. I've found if I have some air blowing directly in my face, it relieves a lot of the claustrophobia symptoms. It's saved me on a number of occasions.

Azrood said...

You and I could never fly on the same plane! We'd be fighting each other for the last molecule of breathable air, lol! I detest being on a plane.

I'd so buy a new lens for my camera if I had an extra $400 right now. :)

Anonymous said...

Now, I'm freaking out about breathing on the plane!

The Four Week Vegan said...

You cannot reserve your seats online or right now on the phone - whose crazy idea was that! And all I thought I had to worry about on an airplane were gremlins tearing apart the wings while we fly NOW I have to worry the air will disappear - that some big lunged man seating a row ahead of me is going to suck it all down his windpipe - GREAT! Just what I needed to know.

Jenni said...

Ughhhhhh! I hope you have an easy flight home...

H.K. said...

First class seats is the way to travel, too bad I never have enough money to travel that way!

found you via Mama Kat.

Eve said...

I'd tell them that you have a phobia and see if they will upgrade you for free, they might,they might not, but worth the try though!

Creative Junkie said...

Oh geeze - and I have to fly next week and I hate flying to begin with so your post is just about making me want to throw up. UGH.

If I had $400? I'd put it towards a Nikon D90.

Tess said...

If I had 400 bucks, I would go to an all day spa and forget about all my troubles!
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