Sometimes Air Travel SUX
This weekend I flew to Sioux City, Iowa to lead a three hour workshop for an event hosted by the Iowa Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. Sioux City does have an airport, albeit an airport with one terminal, that is served exclusively by Northwest, and which only handles flights to and from Minneapolis/St. Paul. It's actually a charming little place, though the Sioux Gateway Airport has the misfortune of being assigned the three-letter code "SUX."
It would be easy, and marginally humorous, to say that SUX accuarately describes my experience at Sioux Gateway; but, as I have written, I found the place charming. (The people working at the desk were also the people who unloaded the planes and directed traffic on the tarmac.) Still, it was at SUX where I learned that my luggage (containing my clothes and all of the materials essential to my presentation) had gotten stuck in Minneapolis and had not made it onto the connecting flight.
To be fair, I only barely made the connecting flight. Minneapolis has a monster of an airport for a city its size; the terminal to which I arrived and the terminal from which I departed were on opposite ends of the complex. Then again, I had only been through Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport twice before, both times during a round trip flight from Cincinnati to Los Angeles eight years ago. The baggage handlers, by comparison, transport items from one part of the airport to another for a living.
Having to ask my host to take me to Wal-Mart late Friday night so that I could buy some cheap pajamas was a little embarrassing; having no clean clothes to change into was uncomfortable; and facing the prospect of giving my presentation naked (in terms of not having any of the materials I had packed—I could have purchased more cheap clothes at Wal-Mart) made me very anxious. But I shouldn't complain, as this weekend was the first time in my nearly thirty years of life that an airline has failed to get my luggage to my destination on time. (Granted, I don't fly terribly often.)
My bag arrived at SUX about ninety minutes before my presentation was to begin. I was actually able to clean up, change, and review a few things before going to the church to lead the workshop. The presentation went fairly well—the participants were involved and seemed to appreciate what I had to offer, but I don't think that the people in Iowa are dying to have me back. Aside from the lost luggage and the turbulance we encountered on the return trip, my air travel experience was perfectly fine. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to harp on the fact that the three-letter abbreviation for the Sioux City airport is "SUX."
It would be easy, and marginally humorous, to say that SUX accuarately describes my experience at Sioux Gateway; but, as I have written, I found the place charming. (The people working at the desk were also the people who unloaded the planes and directed traffic on the tarmac.) Still, it was at SUX where I learned that my luggage (containing my clothes and all of the materials essential to my presentation) had gotten stuck in Minneapolis and had not made it onto the connecting flight.
To be fair, I only barely made the connecting flight. Minneapolis has a monster of an airport for a city its size; the terminal to which I arrived and the terminal from which I departed were on opposite ends of the complex. Then again, I had only been through Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport twice before, both times during a round trip flight from Cincinnati to Los Angeles eight years ago. The baggage handlers, by comparison, transport items from one part of the airport to another for a living.
Having to ask my host to take me to Wal-Mart late Friday night so that I could buy some cheap pajamas was a little embarrassing; having no clean clothes to change into was uncomfortable; and facing the prospect of giving my presentation naked (in terms of not having any of the materials I had packed—I could have purchased more cheap clothes at Wal-Mart) made me very anxious. But I shouldn't complain, as this weekend was the first time in my nearly thirty years of life that an airline has failed to get my luggage to my destination on time. (Granted, I don't fly terribly often.)
My bag arrived at SUX about ninety minutes before my presentation was to begin. I was actually able to clean up, change, and review a few things before going to the church to lead the workshop. The presentation went fairly well—the participants were involved and seemed to appreciate what I had to offer, but I don't think that the people in Iowa are dying to have me back. Aside from the lost luggage and the turbulance we encountered on the return trip, my air travel experience was perfectly fine. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to harp on the fact that the three-letter abbreviation for the Sioux City airport is "SUX."
posted by Tinley | 6:35 PM
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