The Flight Home

In the past eleven years, I have been on an airplane twice, and both of those times were business trips in the past six months. Air travel hasn't changed much since that time: you still have to check in your luggage, sit around and wait until you can board the plane, and sit in seats that are too small. If the person in front of you happens to recline their seatback, you have even less room.

Denver Airport

Meals are rarely served on flights, even those that occur during normal mealtimes. Everything that is served has a price tag on it. And as my luck would have it, I either end up sitting right on top of the wing, with limited visibility, or I have the aisle seat where I can't see anything! Okay, so there are advantages to having an aisle seat--you can get up to go to the very small lavatory without climbing over people. (On one flight, I had a window seat and both of my seat-mates were sleeping when I had to go to the bathroom. Patience is a virtue!)

There are, however, some changes that are very noticeable. For example, security is tighter than it used to be. You have to take off your shoes as well as any metal items, all of which will be scanned by the x-ray machines. Family members can no longer enter the boarding area to wait with you until your flight is boarded. With most airlines now charging fees for checking luggage into the cargo hold of the aircraft, more people are cramming all of their traveling items into smaller suitcases that are bulging at the seams and then trying to stuff them into the overhead bins above the seats. I think that if the plane were to crash, we would all be knocked unconscious by the falling luggage before we ever hit the ground!

Headquarters of Corrections

Corporation of America

Sunset over Denver Airport