Crazy people at the airport...

I was at the airport yesterday waiting for my wife to arrive and, as usual, there was an interesting array of people there.

First, some loud mouthed guy on his cell phone non-stop. High teens low to mid 20s age, acting all tough on his phone. He’s telling his friends that he’s pissed because they wouldn’t let him into the terminal.. He said he was there to pick up a child (with no documentation), he tried to pass off a piece of paper as a ticket, they still wouldn’t let him in. Then, he claims that he told them they’d better let him in or else he’d “kick their asses”. Uh-huh, if you even came close to that your ass would be in a back room in the airport being drilled by security and the local police department. He’s also talking down to some girl (probably his GF that he keeps her self esteem crushed so she’d stay with him).

Karma caught up to him. His mom called, they were stuck on the tarmac because someone got sick and they needed the CDC to clear the plane. HA HA! He was telling her to fake being sick. Yeah, that’ll work, that’ll just make them wait longer.

A couple came in from the terminal with a small child. The mother went to the rest room and the father was too busy on his cell phone to notice that their child was standing at the top of the down escalator playing, and blocking people from going downstairs to baggage claim. I was hoping that the father would drop his cell phone down to the first floor (I don’t want to see the kid get hurt from his own ignorance).

Of course some other bratty kid came up to me and demanded that I give him my Nintendo DS. Yeah, right. No, it’s not your turn. It’s my DS that I bought with my own money. Learn some manners. Of course he goes crying off to his mommy who told him I was being a “mean man”. Fine lady, can I have that laptop in your bag? No? You’re being mean. Like hell I’m going to give a Nintendo DS (that I was using at the time, BTW) to a completely strange kid (plus, kid’s mom, didn’t you ever teach your kids to NOT talk to strangers? If I was a pedophile I could have easily lured that kid away into my car while you were being completely ignorant of the situation and he would be GONE. Obviously chatting on your cell phone is far more important than your child).

I also love watching people argue with security. Pay attention to the rules people. No, you cannot bring that bottle of water onto the plane. You say its water but how can they know? Yes, the knives are for cutting steak but guess what, they are NOT going onto the plane (and arguing with security will NOT get you anywhere so don’t even continue arguing). Wisen up people. Also, DO NOT LEAVE YOUR BAGS UNATTENDED. Almost every time I go to the airport security is a few seconds away from closing the terminal because some moronic ass-muncher leaves a bag on the floor (like when going though the zigzag line at security). Of course, at the last second someone just picks it up and acts like nothing happened. Maybe these people should be pulled aside and fully strip searched (cavity search time!). Maybe that will teach them to just leave their bags and risk tens of thousands of travelers getting to where they need to go on time.

Don’t get me wrong, there were dozens of happy reunions (including mine). People were very happy to see each other (I couldn’t get the opening scene of “Dogma” out of my mind with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon). It gave me a warm feeling in my heart. Either that or my heartburn was acting up again. 

Of course driving in and out of the airport is a living hell, too. People who can’t figure out the self-pay lanes in the parking garage, people slamming on their breaks on the highway that goes around the airport and jumping across 3 lanes. People who drive by the terminal then slam on their breaks to pull across 4 lanes of traffic so they can drop someone off (did you not notice the pretty colors or the huge terminal numbers?). Leaving is dangerous enough. Even with police there stopping traffic to let pedestrians walk across the road people still fly though almost hitting us. Morons.

A hard lesson learned.

Let this be a lesson to people, hang up and drive!!

My wife and I were heading to dinner last night and we need to stop at the supermarket to pick something up. We were heading to a 4-way intersection. We had a green light but noticed an ambulance was heading westbound and our traffic was stopped.

And then it happened.

An SUV going north stopped blocking an eastbound lane (not west bound traffic and it is a 3 lane road not including turning lanes) to try to let the ambulance go though. Another SUV behind them rear-ended them (pretty hard).

We rolled our eyes at the stupidity of the person who hit them then saw something horrific. A motorcycle was in front of the SUV stopped in the right lane (which was blocked by the accident), I'm assuming to help or call for help. A car had sped around the accent vehicles (ignoring the ambulance) just in time to hit the motorcyclist. He hit with such force that the car went over the motorcycle, the cyclist, and over the guard rail to ride on it about 10 feet then slam back down to the ground. We I saw the motorcyclist he was trying to pull himself off of the street and his legs were bent in directions that legs aren't supposed to go in.

Luckily there were already two police cars in the intersection and the ambulance was able to stop for a few seconds, I'm assuming to call dispatch to let them know what happened and give details, before heading to their call. We pulled into the supermarket (southwest corner of that intersection) and I watched what was happening when my wife ran in to get a few things. Luckily, another ambulance and a rescue were there within 5 minutes.

The part that is pissing me off the most is that the driver of the car was STILL ON HIS CELL PHONE TALKING (he was holding the phone up to his ear). Obviously he wasn't paying enough attention to see the accident, the ambulance, or the motorcyclist and obviously his conversation was more important than the poor motorcyclist that he had just most likely broken both legs (at the least).

Yes, I work for a major wireless communications provider but I firmly believe that most of the people out there who talk while driving (not using a headset or other hands free) are distracted and do not have full control of their vehicle plus are not aware of their surroundings.