Tales of Christmas 2005

Over the next week or so I hope to post all the little stories of our adventures in Colorado.

Episode One: KCI

By the end of a long semester David and I were ready for some R&R. The day we headed out to the airport I made sure to wear my back brace to avoid excess pain while airport hopping. Had I known this would be my downfall before I even left Kansas I would have left it behind.

As David and I began to make our way through the security check I was informed to unpack my carry-on because I had a video camera in the bag. Slight increase in blood pressure because I had meticulously packed the bag and all the food was on top. So, with a line of people behind me, out comes the food, camera, off with the shoes and belt, and out comes David from the stroller so they can x-ray all of it. Maybe now would be a good time to mention that I am traveling alone and I now have a 21mo old child running loose.

I send David through the metal detector first and he passes. As I go through the alarm goes off. No problem, go through again. Alarm again. Now I start getting suspicious looks from the security twits.

They asked me to step aside and stand in the circle while they "wand" me. At this point I tell them it's probably my back brace which has set off the alarm and I'm more than willing to take it off to show it to them. At one point I pick David up because he is running wild and they snap at me because I just "contaminated" him. Everyone in this audience knows that happened a long time ago but by this point I am really getting steamed.

Nobody offers to help with David while I put up with the examination. Nobody offers to help as I dash to clothe myself and re-pack the carry-on. Nobody offers to help extract David from behind the security x-ray line.

Finally we get on the plane and as fate would have it I get placed right behind a not so understanding older gentleman. This was normally the time of day David runs and plays so asking him to hold perfectly still on a plane was pushing my luck, which obviously ran out before the day really got started.

The flight was pretty packed but I thought I saw some seats empty towards the front so I asked the attendant if David and I could move so he could have his own seat. I was mistaken and there was only one seat open, surrounded by older individuals, so I figured there really was no point. The attendant asked if I would like her to mention moving to the man I was annoying. I figured he would take that as an insult so I almost begged her not to say anything. She didn't listen and after he got done refusing to move I distinctly heard him say "why the hell should I have to move just cuz she can't control her son". After that I had thoughts of giving David a good shake and throwing him into the man's lap for the rest of the trip to see what kind of luck he had "controlling" a 21mo old on a plane.

To be continued..........