Flying Solo

How close I was to it all!

Yesterday I arrived in Madrid after a long flight and a bit of commotion.  I was on line at security in the midst of getting my passport/boarding pass reviewed when an incident broke out right in front of me.  One of the employees called “10-nine”, which is a code used to shut down the entire airport because of a terrorist threat. This went on for at least a solid twelve maybe even fifteen minutes. No one was allowed to move, everything was blocked off, and planes were not allowed to leave the gate. I was surprised when I noticed what the family that was causing the uproar looked like; a white family consisting of a mother, father, son and daughter. You can’t get any more generic than that and the total opposite of all the stereotypes. Turns out it was not as bad as it seemed nor was it just a drill. The rest of my journey was fine, just like any other flight. I hoped I would have no one next to me, but someone waiting on standby snatched the seat. Then I thought, “Well maybe I can move to the seats across the aisle since there is only one girl sitting at the window”.  That is just what I did. However, at 8:29pm a cluster of senior citizen ladies from a mid west travel group decided to show up after losing track of time while getting drinks at the bar. Meanwhile we were supposed to take off at 8:30pm. Just my luck right? These ladies were obnoxious as ever talking about everything possible from the buttons on the keyboard screen not working (because a PA announcement was in progress which they could not comprehend) to buying a bottle of Grey Goose from the duty-free magazine. And the worst part is, there was at least one of them in every row around me. I wasn’t able to sleep on the plane, so instead watched movies like The Hunger Games, Stand By Me and 21 Jump Street. 21 Jump Street is an AWFUL movie; don’t even waste your time watching it or money buying it. The ride was also a little bumpy which added to my difficultly of not being able to dose off. But at last I arrived safe and sound in Madrid!