We’re at LAX airport now, waiting to fly to Connecticut. We never expected our house in LA to sell in 4 days, and certainly not with a quick 30 day escrow too. But it did! So, the past month has been a blur of inspectors and final fixes on the LA house, plus flying to Connecticut two weeks ago where we saw 15 homes in two days and bought one.
Logistically, the most complicated thing was figuring out how to ship three cats on the same flight. This took multiple phone calls and arrangements. I was convinced that arriving at LAX with six pieces of luggage and three cats would prove nightmarish. Happily though, we zipped through the check-in, with two cats going in cargo and 17-year-old Peggy Sue in carry-on. Passing through TSA simply required taking her out of the carrier so it could be scanned.
We decided to fly first-class. This, as it turns out, makes a huge difference. I’m blogging this from the First Class Delta lounge. They have wireless everywhere, showers, free drinks, a business center, plus comfortable chairs and tables.
Here’s the class difference. Downstairs in steerage, there are constant Orwellian announcements saying to watch your luggage. Up here, people leave their luggage and wander off. And there’s no announcements. Apparently if you fly first class, you can’t be a terrorist.
This echoes what someone familiar with the air system once told me. If you fly by private jet, there’s no TSA, no scanners, and virtually no security. The more youԚ spend to fly, the less intrusive the security is. Curious, no?
Kinda like what I experienced in the late 80’s when I returned to Miami after a month of Caribbean island hopping. I was alone, a middle-aged male in need of a shave, dressed casually, carrying a cheap canvas bag, and without hardly a glance I was asked to move to the inspection line.
After a few chuckles with the inspector, a very relaxed & polite mammoth of a man (at least 6’7″ while I’m all of 5’3″, extemely toward the other end of intimidation), I told him that all those guys off to the side with their 3-piece pin-striped suits and blonde bimbos glued to their arms were the guys that should be getting searched. If I had been bringing cocaine, or whatever else they may have been looking for, into the country, I certainly wouldn’t have looked as I looked, but rather would have falsified the exterior of a Wall Street broker.
He took a quick peek around to see if anyone was watching or listening, and then pretty much agreed that the guy up front deciding who would and wouldn’t get searched did truly have it all wrong.
Yes….. money moves America….. alway has, and always will.
On another note re your first class experience:
I flew to New York and back to Tokyo a couple weeks ago. In the cheap seats. All the scotch I could drink, great special menu (raw food only – fresh fruit & salads), good movies on seat back screens, and no security announcements except 1 laugher on the way to New York asking passengers not to congregate in one area. People stood up, walked around, and hung in different areas to stretch their legs and vocal cords. And the flight attendants joined us….. Japan Airlines, one of my 2 favorite carriers.