The Long Journey Home

After a very long day yesterday, I am now back home in Ohio after a wonderful two weeks in Madrid.

At 8:15 AM (Madrid time... 2:15 AM Cleveland time) I left Werner and Manuel's apartment and took a taxi to the airport.  It is fortunate that I allowed plenty of time for my 11:35 flight, because security was a nightmare.  There were two different security lines, one for flights to the U.S. and another for everyone else.  The process for my flight was much more stringent than it is at American airports.  I followed the procedures that I always follow in the United States... emptied all my pockets, put my belt, wallet, passport pouch and camera in bins, took off my jacket, and pulled my computer and bag of liquids out of my carry-on.  (The only thing we didn't have to do is take off our shoes.)  My carry on did not pass the inspection.  Instead of opening my bag there as is the procedure in the U.S. if something looks suspicious, I had to go back through the line.  I asked the lady if the three bins of my belongings would be set aside rather than left sitting there on the belt where anyone could take my valuables.  She said no, so I at least grabbed my wallet and passport pouch, and went back with my carry-on.  I had to remove everything electrical... the cables for my camera and computer, small appliances like my beard trimmer and clothes steamer.  It went through the X-ray again.  The way she was looking at the X-ray image and asking an assistant as if something still looked suspicious, I thought I was going to have to go through the line yet again!  But I passed inspection, and fortunately nothing had been pilfered from my bins.

I have read about incidents on flights where passengers go ballistic, and I have always thought that such behavior was ridiculous. But on the flight to Newark, for the first time I understood how tempers could flare.  The man across the aisle from me was a real jerk.  A young lady was trying to put her bag in the overhead bin, and the jerk growled at her, " Don't put anything on top of my computer."  It was a small flat bag that was taking up room that should have been reserved for larger items.  I spoke up and said, "Small items should be placed under the seat in front of you so that there is room for larger bags."  He ignored me, but bravo to the young lady.  She stood her ground, and he finally rearranged his precious computer so that she was able to place her bag in the bin.  He grumbled, "You should ask permission before putting anything on top of something."    Later in the flight, after the beverage service, the jerk decided to fully recline his seat.  The woman behind him had a drink on her tray table, and it fell on her lap. At the end of the flight, when we were deplaning, the jerk barged ahead rather than waiting for the people seated ahead of him to gather their belongings.  Jeez!

It was probably the most stressful flight experience I have had in all my years of traveling (I guess maybe I've just been lucky), but I made it home at last... at 9:00 PM (Cleveland time... 3:00 AM Madrid time).