Tuesday and Vacation Is Over

This kid stole Gilligan's hat.


Our vacation is at an end and nerves are frayed among the various Sneeds, mine included. To prove that point, I just got into a disagreement with a young guy while I was waiting in line at the Southwest Airlines check in area. Mrs. Sneed had to remind me that I was in danger of getting myself into real trouble with the airlines, if I didn't shut up.

It all began when a young guy kept trying to sneak into the line ahead of the fifty people waiting to check in. He had a bottle of tequila that he thought he could carry on the plane, but found that he couldn't get it through security. They sent him back to the check in, so that he could check it.

The first time he tried to cut in front of the line, the agent told him to go to the back of the line. He wandered off to the other end of the line, trying to jump the line in various places, but coming up unsuccessful at each stop. I was mildly amused by the little dumbass, until he cut me off, trying to sneak up to the agent directly in front of where I was standing.

Unfortunately, that agent took him ahead of everyone else, including me. The agent also told him that he would need a box to ship his bottle in and that the airline didn't provide boxes. That set off a whole round of pleas and denials for help in finding a box. Finally, no doubt tired of the little piss ant, the agent found him a box somewhere in the back, along with some packing material and tape. He held up the line while he packaged the bottle and checked it in.

What I said to him, that set him off, was, "Thanks for waiting in line, buddy". What he said that set me off was "Shut up, grandpa". This exchange led to the usual back and forth, culminating in mutual accusations that we each were punks. One of the advantages of being old, is that young guys don't know how to deal with you when you call them on their misbehavior. Perhaps this sort of thing ought not bother me, but I patiently waited in line and I don't need to wait while some dunderhead thinks he is entitled to not wait.

Apart from that we had a very nice day. We had breakfast outside in a restaurant along the San Diego harbor. Then we took a harbor sightseeing tour on a boat, and finally took a drive out to Point Loma to look at the tide pools.

One funny thing happened while we were eating breakfast. A woman at the adjacent table was badgering the waiter over seventy-five cents that she said she had been over-charges. He said that he would get her a refund, but she wouldn't stop. Finally, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a dollar bill, slapped it on the table and said, "That should cover it." He turned on a heel and walked off. She shouted after him, "But it was only seventy-five cents."

One thing I really like about San Diego is that there is a lot of free WiFi access. Neither the hotel nor the airport charged for internet access. I wrote this post while waiting in line to board the plane. I waited in line without causing a scene. We need a whole lot more free WiFi, if you ask me. It's one way to keep old coots like me occupied and not bothering passersby.

Once seated in the front row of the fine Southwest Airlines jet aircraft, we had another moment of unpleasantness. Some old bag, in the throes of congestive heart failure, asked the flight attendant if she would kindly remove Sneedlet to another area of the plane and away from her. The flight attendant told her that she could not move him, but she did come over and ask Sneedlet to use his "inside voice". She also apologized to me for having to ask and gave Sneedlet several Southwest Airlines souvenirs as a little token. He promptly fell asleep, leaving the area quiet enough for the whole section to be able to hear the old witch yammering at the top of her lungs and badgering the flight crew relentlessly.

When we arrived at the gate, the old coot demanded that someone fetch her carry on while regaling the flight crew with how accomplished a pilot her neighbor's son is. Unlike the guys who fly for Southwest. I had an opportunity to ask the very nice flight attendants, who needed an inside voice now? I, of course, used my outside voice to ask. The flight attendants and all the Sneeds had a hearty laugh about the old gal.

Now, we are home and tomorrow I resume my regular life, which is basically like being on permanent vacation anyway, just at a crappier location.





Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong, sometimes just full of it, but always judgmental and cranky