Now, for a completely different type of trip report…
This afternoon a friend sent me a link to a Grand Forks Herald review of an Olive Garden that just opened in Grand Forks (that’s in Minnesota, right?). 😉
At first I thought it was hilarious and had to share it on Twitter. This lady reviews her Olive Garden experience in great detail, from her plan to order the raspberry lemonade on a hot summer day, to describing the Tuscan architecture and warm decor of the restaurant, to explaining that she figured a late lunch would be fashionable. At first I had to chuckle, and probably not for the right reasons.
But mlroach Tweeted me the following, and it got me thinking:
I’m not trying to turn this into one of those motivational, self-help blogs, but it reminded me of an empty flight I took to Maui last year. Only a few seats in first class were taken by “revenue” passengers, while seated around me was a family of six non-revs. It was two young kids traveling with their parents and grandparents, and I overheard that the mom was a gate agent.
A lot of people look down on non-revs as not “deserving” to be in first class, though it quickly turned into one of my most enjoyable flights, not because the food or service was particularly good, but because of the excitement of the non-rev family. They took pictures of each other in their first class seats before departure, and also made several phones calls in Spanish which included the term “primera clase” (first class). Obviously they wanted to share their excitement with friends and family. As we leveled off the flight attendants took meal orders, and as she asked the kids what they wanted to eat, they had a wide grin on their face and said “what, there’s free food?”
It’s easy to take all of these things for granted, and it’s easy to even get annoyed when other people are excited. But at the end of the day I am kind of jealous of the simple happiness of many people. Bringing it back to flying, I remember when flying coach would excite the heck out of me, even if it was just a short flight. And then I remember when I started flying domestic first class. And then international business class. And then international first class. Now what?
So whether it’s a trip to the Olive Garden or a trip in Lufthansa first class like I have tomorrow, be excited. But do check out the article, because it’s pretty awesome.
And now I’ll go back to being my usual, cranky, whiny self…
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