Oy Vay!

It's good to be back in cyberspace. After a week of not posting, I feel like I have plenty of ammo to write about - the first thing being our flight out to London.

As Amanda had said, by skipping a much thought about meal at the Olive Garden, we were able to start our trip on the right foot and see ScarJo (thanks, Pearl) herself, in the security lines at Dulles International. That also meant that we got to our gate with plenty of time to people watch. Being that we were on an international flight, we were, of course, grouped with other international travelers going to all sorts of neat places for the Thanksgiving holidays. But it wasn't until one particular person showed up and lingered by our gate did Amanda make mention of how you see all sorts of people at the airport.

This particular person was what I'd like to describe as an XL man. I also feel confidently in saying he was a Hasidic Jew. I grew up in a predominantly Jewish community but not a lot of Hasidic Jews. Hasidic Jews are the ones that cut their hair really short but leave long curly sideburns (called payoth) under their yarmulke (pronounced: ya-muh-kah). They also have the stereotype of being 'not so good' drivers in the really big Griswald-esque station wagons with huge menorahs on top during the Hanukkah season...HUGE menorahs. I've seen it.

Anyways - that's just a little background information on the Hasidic Jews. Back to the story.

So we board the plane and we got the seats that fall right behind the walls of the restrooms. That was good because that gave us more leg room. And we were in the middle section so it was five seats across. I plunked down in the middle seat with Amanda to my right. The two end seats were occupied by other women - so it was looking good. I was hoping, against all hope, that the seat to my left would stay empty. We were one of the last groups to board so it was looking that way. Just then, the Hasidic Jew came walking down the aisle and was lingering by our row....I leaned over to Amanda and just kept saying, 'Please don't let him sit next to me.' But she had her doubts and she was right - he was to my left.

Don't get me wrong - I have NO issues with Hasidic Jews. I don't want it to seem that way. What I do have a problem with is what most people have problems with, XL people that spill over into your seat - or those people that disregard the safety rules and just do as they please. Both applied to my neighbor.

He started the trip off on the wrong foot with the stewards because he wouldn't turn off his cell phone - he was constantly texting. The stewards asked him multiple times to turn off his phone - he did not. He just slid it into his pocket until they were done with their safety demonstration and continued to text. I glanced over at him - to see what he was up to. I saw other people, in other rows, glaring at him, because he continued to text. I saw whom he was texting - Cherry. Nice, huh? Anyways - he was texting all the way through take off - that was annoying...even though it didn't really matter that his phone was still on - but still, other people need peace of mind.

My neighbor's next faux pas was when he bogarted our shared arm rest. I decided to give it to him - he was an XL man afterall....but when I mistakenly got up to go to the restroom, he seemed to think it was ok to have his knees spread eagle into my leg space...and that it was ok to have his shoes off and kicked under my seat! Let's just say that by the end of the flight, I was down 1/4 of my seat and encroaching on Amanda's space.

Finally - as we were making our final descent into London Heathrow, my XL friend (because we are friends now, right?) decided to go grab his carry on luggage and store it....right in front of him. Because he had boarded the plane so late, he had to store his carry on towards the back of the plane, past our row of seats. So I can understand that he doesn't want to fight to get back there when we've reached the gate, only to have to come back forward again. But I think he just went about it the wrong way. Two stewardesses had to tell him that this luggage had to be stored. He made no move after the first two warnings. Finally, he said that he didn't want to go to the back to retrieve his luggage so the stewardess told him he could go up to Business Class and see if they would store his things for the remainder of the flight. He did so and was successful.

Overall, I don't think this guy flew much. But he still managed to get the kosher meal, which I took a good look at. I've always said I would put down the kosher meal to see what it's like. But after seeing it, I think I'll pass.

It's XL people next to me and people that LOVE to recline their seats to the maximum position in front of me that I always seem to be surrounded by on planes. Oy vay!