Some Thoughts While Traveling

I'm sitting in the sterile comfort of the Admiral's Club in concourse D at Dallas Fort-Worth Airport. I always chuckle when I go to Admirals Clubs, remembering when I was a aide to a real live Admiral. We were in an airport somewhere (in uniform) and he said, "hey kid, follow me." And with that, we made off for the Admiral's Club. Granted, I knew all his frequent flier numbers and whatever other travel bonuses existed then, and I knew he wasn't a member. I said to him, "Sir, I wasn't aware that you were a member." He said, "I'm an Admiral, aren't I?" at which point he blew past the front desk minders and we made ourselves comfortable for several hours. I loved that man.

So here I am, waiting for a bit for a flight to Baltimore (Hon) amidst the well-heeled and travel savvy. People here simply LOOK better than the hoi-polloi running about the airport, and even the children sprinkled about are well-behaved. No one here is rushing. No one here seems the least bit concerned about anything.

Some thoughts on airports, flying, travel in general:

--Is there some connection between the ready availability of wheelchairs and the number of people who appear to need them? Let's say for the sake of argument that there are 15000 people in this airport right now...I'll wager that you couldn't find a 15000 person town in this country with as high a concentration of those needing wheelchairs as you will find in this airport. I'm just sayin'.

--Let's talk about cowboy hats. Why in God's name would a man wear one on an airplane? He invariably has to remove it, as its back rim must contact the headrest behind him. He certainly cannot be wearing it to hide bed head, as most cowboy hat wearing gentlemen have dressed themselves to the nine's in the garb of the west, with lots of Hai-Karate or other suitably inexpensive toilet water providing olfactory evidence of their presence even before the loud drawl is heard. I just don't get it. Baseball hats? Yep. Bed head. Pull down over your eyes on a bright flight. Socially acceptable just about anywhere. Cowboy hat? No, I just don't get it.