How far we've come

While cleaning out some stuff at work today, one of our student workers came across a stamp that I'm pretty sure wouldn't be issued today. In 1974 however, this was apparently ok to say. Another example of how hyper-sensitive our society has become:

Trapped in Paradise

Got home from a week in Hawaii today. It was a good trip yet, as always, was much much too short. Coming back to reality is always hard...especially when you've been spending every day watching the sun rise over a volcanic crater and watching it set over the pacific ocean. Our plane was scheduled to leave Maui at 3 pm local time. So we packed up the car and made it to the airport at a very responsible 1 pm. Rental car returned, bags checked, boarding passes in hand, we're at the gate by 1:20. There were 24 of us - it was a family vacation...an ENTIRE family vacation. Around 2:30 we get set to begin boarding and they inform us that our plane is late and we will be boarding around 3. No big deal. At 3:30 they inform us that there's a mechanical problem and that we need a part that is being flown in from Oahu. The part will be here by 4:30 pm and will take about an hour to install, so we'll be boarding around 5:30. Again, not a big deal. Around 6 we, begin boarding. They let three people on the plane, and the light comes on again. They decide not to let anyone else on until they can get the little light in the cockpit to go out. Finally, they deplane the three people on the plane (my grandma and mom being two of them) and inform us that they need to order another part. They aplogize for the 8th time for the delay and inform us that refreshments are being brought to the gate. At 7:30, a cart with airplane pretzels and water shows up. At 8:30, they begin handing out meal vouchers.....$12 per person. There's only one restaurant in the Maui airport. There's over 200 people on our flight. Thus begins a mad race to the restaurant, which is more cafeteria than restaurant. $12 sounds like a great amount for a meal, but that's on the mainland. A burger, fries, and a coke will run you $14 at this cafeteria.


After that everyone was a little punchy. A few of us decided to go up to the counter and listen to people bitch about how shitty it is of Hawaiian Airlines to not let us on a malfunctioning plane. It seriously seemed like some of these people would rather that the airline said "eh, we know there's a problem, but we don't want to make these people wait......let's hope everything works alright for just one more flight!" C'mon. There are very good reasons for these rules. I asked someone what the problem was with the plane. This lady, while well meaning, explained it to me like I was 4 years old. I think she started by explaining to me that the plane had 3 wheels that come out from the bottom of the plane so we can land. Gee really? Thanks for clearing up that little misconception.

It turns out that there was some sort of problem with the brake fluid in the landing gear. I have no problems with them making sure that our plane will stop at the Portland airport and not continue to speed across the ground until we crash into the outlet mall in Troutdale. It was quite entertaining actually. We ended up not getting off the ground until midnight, and landed in Portland this morning at 8:15 am.....roughly 10 and a half hours late. Needless to say, I didn't go to work this morning.

Funny thing was that those 11 hours at the Maui airport were probably my favorite part of the entire trip. Strange? Maybe. But it was really the only time during the entire week that all 24 of use were in the same place at the same time for any extended period of time. We got to talk, play with the kids, eat together....basically it reminded all of us that we really were family, and we should start acting like it. I got to talk to my grandparents for a while, talk to my cousin and her husband in depth for the first time since their wedding, have a good time making fun of the cranky people in the terminal who were demanding compensation for their wait with my uncle, and really get to talk to my brother's girlfriends and get to know them a little better.

So really, while I enjoyed taking Jonah in the ocean for the first time (he's doesn't seem to hate it, but I'm not sure he likes it either), snorkeling, eating mahi-mahi, laying around in the sun, and swimming at sunset every evening, I can honestly say that spending 11 hours in a hot, sorta dirty airport was the highlight of my trip.

Plus, we did get compensated. Everyone got $300 flight vouchers.....so another trip to Hawaii might be in the works!