In catch-up mode, so look for more here tomorrow. However, I had to share this experience from yesterday’s trip home. We flew through Chicago, which naturally meant we spent an extra two hours waiting for our plane to arrive. We were flying Southwest, and since there were no seats in the waiting area, we decided if we had to sit on the floor, we might as well start the line for the B boarding group (Yes, we were those people. But only because there were no open chairs.).
Our plane finally arrives, they off-load the inbound passengers, call for preboards, then group A, and finally us poor slobs in group B. S. was first, so I trailed behind her. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a guy angling towards the line from the side. This was a full flight, meaning there were probably 40 people behind us in B, and another 30 or so in the C line. Apparently this guy had no time for lines or regulations (We’re living in a society!) and wanted to secure a seat before everyone else. I smartly spread my elbows out, turned my back to him, and made the gear I was carrying as wide as possible. No way dude was getting by me; I’d let the people behind me worry about him. We enter the jet way, and I glance back and see him three people behind me. Ass, but he didn’t beat me on. Someone else was the sucker. We get halfway down the jetway and a call comes back from the boarding agents.
“David Jennings! David Jennings!” (Names have been changed to protect the subject, and because I don’t really remember his name.)
Ass dude stops, turns, and yells, “Yes.”
“Are you going to Houston?”
“Yes!”
“You’re on the wrong plane.”
Tail between legs, he retreats to the waiting area. There were some lighthearted comments from other passengers to Indy that they should have let him go on the wrong flight as punishment for jumping the line. But one girl was indignant. “I’m sorry to be rude, but that’s just not right that you let him in front of us. He shouldn’t get to jump in front of people who have been waiting for hours.” It sounded like she was all over the guy for getting in front of her. We later heard he turned and said, “We’re all getting on the same plane” to her.
Listen, I love Southwest for personal travel under two hours because it’s so cheap. And I can deal with all the hassles you put up with because of the price. But idiots like this make me wish they would just assign seats, or cordone off sections for each group, or some other way of adding a little more order to the process. Between the assholes who don’t respect the rules or other travelers, and the large number of old ladies who don’t understand the boarding process, Southwest really does a number on my blood pressure the 5-6 times I fly them each year.