Solidarity

[ayun]

"I kind of hope she does sit here. She'll be like 'What are you reading?' and I'll tell her it's Noam Chomsky."
"Ha, I've actually got Žižek with me. Check it out, the cover is basically an illustration of an in-flight emergency"Okay, if you do change seats, will you 'accidentally' leave your book behind

Comments

[cris]

hah! when you told me earlier that you and your FlightFriend had somebody to hate on together, I instantly thought to myself, "oh, this should be a fun LJ entry."

I have to say: those ice cream sundaes really are one of the best parts of Business Class, and I would be genuinely a little bummed if I got last minute news that a system glitch denied me that dessert. But all the same, having it delivered to you extra special while sitting in coach? That's either supremely callous or the most passive aggressive HumbleBrag I've seen in a while.

[ayun]

Delivered to you extra special while sitting in coach behind a little kid, even.

Weirdly, even though I've been bumped up a number of times now (including both legs of my outbound flight, which was an unexpected delight), I've never gotten an ice cream sundae!

[cris]

I think it might be an international business class thing; and only as an accompaniment to lunch or dinner*? Otherwise, you should write to a chairman!

* -- my last business class ice cream sundae that I expect for a while was on a surprise upgrade on my return from Stockholm. My rowmate was a doctor who, when he was asked for what toppings he wanted said, "Cherries, hotfudge, whipped cream and, oh could you also go back to the galley and grab a shot of brandy or cognac to top it off?"

I looked at him like, "OMG, of course, you can ask for booze as a topping! Why didn't I think of that?"

And he just met my gaze and winked like, "Protip, son."

[ayun]

Hmm, I think the couple of times I've gone biz class international, they've only served breakfast. IF ONLY I HAD KNOWN ABOUT THE SUNDAES!

I can't believe none of our friends has ever thought to have a boozy ice cream social.

[ayun]

She had definitely paid for business class (pretty sure that was the 'compensation' discussion - reimbursement for the fare difference). BUT. PTY > BOS is less than five hours in the air, and this was a daytime flight on a Sunday.

I think the lavatory thing was mostly just that in premium seating, you basically never have to wait for the bathroom, which is nice. However I prefer to think that yeah, she was worried about touching the same toilet seat as us plebes.

She was, natch, in the Global Entry queue at passport control too. I'd make fun of that too, but I looked up the cost out of curiosity and it's only $100 for 5 years! I don't travel internationally quite enough to justify it, but I'm tempted.

[silentq]

Huh, interesting: I paid $50/5 years for my Nexus pass (good between US and Canada) and they gave me Global Entry for free with my permanent residency card (er, well, as a freebie for a multi thousand dollar application process, whee!). I don't fly internationally enough for $100 to be quite worth the time savings either, especially since I've found that not all airports have the kiosks, and the last few times through Boston, the lines haven't been that long anyway. I think the last time I used my Nexus card (in Montreal), it took me longer than it would have without it as more and more people are getting those ones, but US/Canada travel is pretty popular.

[ayun]

Ha, that's kind of...nice? I guess? Certainly it's the least you could do, considering that you probably got background checked to hell and back, and that's basically all those programs are...

[jasonlizard]

"Having somebody to mutually hate will bond strangers in a hurry"

It's amazing, isn't it? It's like it triggers some pleasure center in the brain, validation for one's beliefs and all that.