Getting gas was easy. Getting food wasn’t. Businesses know that it’s more important to have gas pumps available for consumers 24 hours a day instead of food. Thus, all gas stations along the way were open, but none of the food places displayed the “We’re Open” sign. Even McDonald’s, the supposed flagship of all fast food, was closed. We managed to find a Carl’s Jr. which was happily taking any orders. We ordered food and decided to eat it quickly in the car. By the time we finished, my flight was going to leave in less than 40 minutes.
We hurried to the airport, which wasn’t far from where we had the 3-minute lunch. My ride dropped me at the main terminal, as parking was hard to find at this specific airport on a Thanksgiving. I took my luggage and headed straight for the JetBlue baggage drop counter. The guy at the counter looked at my flight information and immediately told me that I had missed the last flight for the day to Oakland.
“I still have 20 minutes“, I explained. He told me that the security check took more than 20 minutes, and thus I would definitely miss the flight even if he checked in my baggage. I asked him to check in my baggage and to let me worry about my chance of getting through the security. He wouldn’t do that, and offered an interesting alternative in the form of telling me to ask another staff member to see what other flights I could get that day. While I got in another line to talk to an elderly man, there was a lady standing next to me who was also trying to get a seat for Oakland. Apparently, she had also missed the same flight as mine.
While we waited to talk to the man, the polite lady asked me if I was going to Oakland, and then told me that I should get a flight to Sacramento, as that was the only other alternative to getting near San Francisco that day. When it was her turn, the lady talked to the guy and managed to get a seat to Sacramento. While the guy was printing out her boarding pass, she told me to try to get a seat next to hers so that we could somehow manage to share a ride or something from Sacramento to San Francisco together. I agreed and thanked her. She then went inside to the departing area, while it was my turn to see if I could get on the flight to Sacramento also.
The guy started with “She was extremely cute so it wasn’t a problem trying to find a seat for her, and you’re very good-looking too I guess, so I’ll try to see what I can do for you.” I didn’t make any effort nor divert any energy to respond to that joke of a sentence, so I just nodded and said a very polite “Thank you!” It took the guy about 5 minutes to find a seat for me to Sacramento, which was the last flight from Long Beach airport to anywhere in or around the Bay area that day. He then asked me if it was ok for me to sit right next to the window. I asked the guy if I could get a seat next to the nice lady, as she was going to help me later to get to San Francisco. The guy looked at me and breathed a heavy sigh, and said “I’m sorry, I think that would be unethical for me.” I was surprised and asked “How would that be unethical?”
He responded very slowly “While JetBlue strives to help you with everything, I’m sure you’re capable of finding your own date, as you’re so good looking.” By this time the people behind me were already staring at us, wondering why I would be so desperate to hit on a someone on a plane by sitting next to her. I wasn’t in the mood for arguments or flirting with guys who kept telling me that I was good looking, so I simply got a seat all the way in the back. I guess he was attracted to her and wouldn’t want me to sit close to her, or something. Maybe he really thought it was unethical to let me sit next to her, as he probably may have thought that I was trying to hit on her. I wasn’t interested in her in any manner other than to be helped later on, so I simply got my boarding pass and went to the waiting lounge in the departure area.
The nice lady was sitting there, who somehow looked young and cute, now that the counter guy had brought up the possibility of her being attractive. Regardless, I told her that I got on the flight too. She was glad and asked me if I was going to Bay area to see my family. I nodded sideways, and told her a basic summary of why I was traveling. She listened politely and told me that she was traveling to see her sister. She then asked me if I got a seat next to her, and I told her what had just happened. She looked at me with eyes wide open and asked “Are you serious?” and I said “Yes“, laughing at the same time. She laughed and got up, telling me to follow her. I didn’t know where she was going, so I followed very slowly, asking where she was going. She told me that she was going to get my seat changed. She got to a JetBlue counter and then demanded to see the guy who had helped us. The staff at the main counter was a bit surprised, looking at me and her as if a big fight was about to happen.
They asked us what had happened and she told them that she and her “close friend” wanted a seat together but the “perverted bald guy” at the front counter didn’t let us sit together on purpose. “Whatever we have going on is none of his fucking business. Is this what JetBlue does? Separate people from each other simply because the desperate attendants get attracted to females and can’t stand someone else sitting next to those people? What kind of a fucking harassment is this?” It was a very interesting sight to see. The staff looked at me and apologized and looked at her and apologized, and said that they would look into it and see if they could find us seats together. All this time, I was trying to hold my smiling face and the only way I could do that was to think why all of this was happening; because my ride had decided to get gas and food at the last minute.
After about 5 minutes of apologizing and assuring my new acquaintance that there must be some sort of a misunderstanding in this whole situation, the counter staff got us two seats together. We then strolled back to our chairs with the new boarding passes in our hands. I like JetBlue more than any other airline that serves here; however, the counter guy had no right to not give a seat to someone simply because he thought it was unethical without finding out more whether or not I was told by the lady herself to find a seat next to her or if I was trying to set up a date sky high. Once we sat down, the lady let out a burst of laughter. I thanked her and told her that she should be in the movies. She kept laughing and explained how the airline people don’t understand any other language. She had a good time explaining her previous episodes with airlines like JetBlue, which overall does a better job than other airlines but still falls short on some levels. After a while, it was time to get on the plane. Here’s a picture I took for Valerie using my Samsung t509 phone:
We got on and talked for a good hour or so until the plane landed, after which we got to San Francisco. Once it was time to go our own ways, I thanked the kind and cute lady for helping me and said “take care, and nice meeting you!” and departed. In a typical movie, the two people would exchange numbers or contact information before departing. Since this isn’t a typical blog and your writer isn’t a typical human being, and that wasn’t a typical situation, I decided not to exchange anything other than good feelings with that person. Interestingly, she did the same and was extremely happy. It’s good being a typical human being instead of a typical guy or a girl.
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