Judgment

Yesterday afternoon we returned home from our adventure to Miami. It was LG's first time on an airplane. She did pretty well, maybe even a bit better than we thought she could do. There were a few rough times during the rapid altitude changes but she did okay and I had the opportunity to teach her a basic science lesson or two.

Traveling with an infant is quite different than traveling alone. There is a lot more to carry and it takes a lot more time to get ready. Our entire day yesterday was spent getting LG ready to travel, traveling with LG, and getting her to unwind after the travel.

As we were boarding the flight from DFW to AUS yesterday afternoon I heard a snide remark from someone waiting to get into line, "I guess they're letting everyone on." At that point the first class cabin had been told they could board and in usual fashion a mass of people were hovering within feet of the ticket counter, crowding the entrance, waiting for the first second they could jump onto the plane. Apparently these two young parents, dressed in race shirts and sneakers, did not look like they should be getting on the airplane yet. Maybe the guy thought we were trying to push our way on since we had an infant. He probably didn't realize the guy with the infant was using upgrades he'd managed to save up after 20+ overseas trips over the past decade.

I thought to myself, I would have expected that type of comment on the flight out of Miami but not the one into Austin.

I then realized something else; I had just stereotyped the people from Miami while criticizing someone for making a judgment about others. Point is, we are all gutty of passing judgement on others and could probably all benefit from paying a little more attention too it.

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On the way over to Miami LG's luggage was lost. It was a little frustrating that she'd lost her bag on her first flight but I don't think she noticed. I suspect this was probably the best time in her life to have misplaced luggage. I can't imagine trying to console a two-year old if the airline lost the bag with their favorite blanket it it. (Note: I just returned home from a trip to Target to purchase a backup airplane blanket - it has airplanes on it, not for the airplane).

Michael's description of the bag, "Teel duffel bag with "MICH" monogrammed on it."

As if that wouldn't make it stand out like a sore thumb they asked him to list five things in the bag. Apparently "Baby Clothes" was enough to distinguish the bag from all the black luggage with adult clothes.

Since we'd flown to Miami on New Year's Eve the airlines were probably a bit understaffed in their luggage retrieval department. Although the bag had been located at 9 am the next morning, it never went out for delivery. We did get it back the next night when Michael drove back to the airport to find it. This morning he got an automated call from the airlines to update him on the status of his lost luggage.

As a side note, those upgrades we used to get ourselves to first class also meant we had bright orange "Priority" tags on all of our bags. Wonder if that helped them find the bag the next morning.

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Nap time is probably about done so that's all for now. We have lots of pictures from the trip and I promise to write another post and add pictures very soon. Stay tuned.