About On The Dig
2009
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Horror stories from the airlines are getting worse and worse. Just last week a Continental jet encountered severe turbulence and over twenty passengers were injured. But I don't think it gets any crazier than Continental Flight 2816. Forty-seven Minneapolis-bound passengers were grounded ten hours because of severe weather and never allowed to leave the plane. No food, no drink, no release. I would have drilled a hole through the floor of the plane with a fork and got the hell out of there. I'm about as free flowing as one can get, but when it comes to planes I become the poster child for claustrophobia. I don't like small spaces where the air is recycled and leg room is problematic. The only thing that eases my nerves during a flight is the time of arrival. I set my mind on the arrival time and wait patiently for the descent.
So the idea of being on a tarmac for over ten hours sounds like Chinese water torture. And then no prospects of water or even a salted nut... man! They would have to tranquilize me and cart me off the plane in metal straps. Since 2007, 200,000 domestic passengers have been stuck on 3000 planes for over three hours. Once I had to wait an hour before takeoff to LAX and I nearly pulled out every strain of hair in my goatee. I know the Passengers' Bill of Rights are sitting somewhere in Congress, but how long are passengers expected to wait for the torture to end? I’m telling you, I might have organized a mutiny among the passengers. Ten hours is way too long to follow shady airline protocol.
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