First Class

So Gary calls me from the airport more excited than I have heard him in a long time. When he went to check in, they asked him if he had a Business Class seat. He said, "Noooo, but I wouldn't mind one" and for some reason known only to the 'Gary is lucky' gods, she said OK! Now, I don't really think that his charm talked him into a first class seat.

He got into the First Class lounge after getting through security and called me back. His theory is the flight was booked and since he usually flies Business Class, give it to someone used to it (get back to that later). I promise it was not a mistake. I just got on the Quantas web site and 'booked' a ticket for Economy, Business Class and First Class. Here is the breakdown:

Economy: $947.00
Business: $18,364.00
FirstClass: $24,689.00

Thus the reason we are travelling on Economy in the first place. Exxon gives us a bundle of money for travel and we can use it any way we would like. Four tickets first class, or all the tickets we need to go back and forth then extra to travel to New Zealand, China etc. Go figure.

So ... not a mistake.

Back to Gary in the lounge. He sighed and said he forgot how wonderful it was to travel Business / First class. Take note: he has traveled ONE TIME since all his Business Class flights ... man. But as for getting used to it ...

I have travelled Business / First class quite a few times and it bothers me. I like to think (in a perfect world) that everyone is the same - no one deserves special treatment. I really, really believe that - no one is better than me and no one is worse either. But step on a plane and jump back and forth from the First Class cabin to Economy and you will come to believe with enough money ... on a plane you can be special. There is most definitely a Caste System on an airplane. When we travel in economy we call it either 'travelling in steerage' or 'travelling with the goats and chickens' and that is truly how they treat you.

In First Class I can't get over the waste, and the opulence - teeny tiny crystal salt and pepper shakers for each person with dinner, they won't leave you alone, want to make you comfortable, feed you non stop. It doesn't make me feel special, it makes me feel sad for that mother with a screaming baby back in economy that is so tired she can barely stay upright except for the screaming of her baby - if she could only lay back and put the baby on her shoulder in that empty First Class seat over there, she could get some sleep. Or that old man that is not feeling well, cramped between two large people. Or any of those back there - I feel sorry for them - that just because (in our case a company paid) we had more money than they did, we get treated like Kings and Queens, but they barely register as human beings.

And yes, I am now travelling with the goats and the chickens. It does seem like some deserve to be there - you know them, the obnoxious, the loud, the rude and I have sat by them. But still - I feel uncomfortable when I fly in a First Class seat. It is not fair. And I know ... my mother, at a very early age told me that 'life is not fair' when I was troubled by something - but it does not stop me from being bothered by it.



And it will be a sad day if I ever become comfortable with it ....



'See you' on Sunday