Keflavik Airport

As I sit here in the lunge just pst Gate 6 drinking a latte ( I have become inordinately found of such drinks and will have to under go a sharp weaning once I am home) I am just delighted to be out of the rain and cold.

The trip was interesting. I haven’t seen so many pearls, fancy watches or diamonds outside the Opera or charity balls. But then, I don’t belong to a country club and try to avoid the cocktail circuit at all costs.

I can see for some that this type of travel would be ideal and certainly I had excellent food and a wonderful cabin filled with light even without having a balcony (or veranda in some of the cruise lines vernacular). I can even understand the desire to haul out all the dress up clothes and “eat out” without the hassle of travel, strange restaurants and bad company. But it just doesn’t suit me to be swaddled all comfortable and cozy in my sheltered little corner of the universe without the reality of the peasants interfering. Any by this I don’t mean the crew. Most of them have worked on other lines and by far would rather be here, on salary and deal with the highly demanding customers (and yes, Bruce, I have to wonder as well when I heard someone complain that it actually took 15 minutes for someone to come and change the roll of toilet paper in their cabin’s bathroom). Maybe they are capable of toiletting by themselves like an oh-so-proud three year old but basic mundane tasks seem to be beneath their dignity.

Really examining my attitude I realize that a large portion of it has been formed by watching the actions of many of the solo female travelers who seem to be more demanding than either the couples or the few men traveling on their own. In the same way I get angry at well educated women who try to justify being stay-at-home moms (hello, why justify it? Just say that you want to and move on. No need to preach or act like it is the most noble thing in the world. It leads me to believe that you really didn’t like your profession in the first place which is more on me than you – but changing jobs/career fields doesn’t need explanation) who imply that they have incurred no obligation to anyone for their years of highly expensive education) I think less of women who treat those waiting on them/serving them as less than equal human beings. Just because someone works in the service industry doesn’t imply an allowance to be treated with anything less than dignity and respect.

The behavior itself is insidious. Why should I be upset if my favorite beverage is not in the mini-fridge? All I have to do is leave my cabin stewardess a note and she takes care of it. Complaining to everyone around me rather than fixing an issue? Anyway, if the worst that happens to an able bodied woman is that she has to take an elevator a couple of decks (walk? who them?) for a beverage, I can’t get all that excited.

Obviously I am not as over some of these irritating people as I thought. First cruise in forever that I have exchanged email addresses with absolutely no one.

From here I fly first to Oslo, then Frankfurt and get home this evening (couple more hours of time change thrown in there just for fun) which means that I am back to my normal life in the morning. I have to finish up a module for my FP boards, log in with Bookcrossing and drop off another few batches of books and think about cleaning.

Already I am thinking about what knitting to take on the next cruise.

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9 Responses to Keflavik Airport

  1. Mark says:

    I enjoyed you comments very much, shows your nose has never gotten out of joint. Just as a question, are you planning on making traveling and visiting throughout the world a career, or are there places that you have not been to and your interest takes you there to satisfy it..

  2. Steve says:

    Well…this sort of did answer my comment if these folks are capable of wiping their own asses!!!

  3. Lis says:

    Hear hear!

  4. Carmen says:

    Interesting commentary on the ‘ladies who lunch’ set.

    The 1% behave exactly as caricatured.

  5. Holly says:

    @Lis

    Oh You probably have met the Upper 5th ave ladies haven’t you!

  6. Mitch says:

    Amen. I was miffed when the literature for our cruise indicated that a sport coat at dinner for men was de rigeur. It actually was not, though I wore the one I brought because the AC was too strong.

  7. Lis says:

    @Holly
    Yes, and avoid them like the plague. I judge people on how they treat “the help.”

  8. Brad says:

    Once you have been deployed, your frame of reference is forever altered.

  9. Holly says:

    Oh, so true. And even the worst Star Alliance lounge is better than the VIP waiting area in Bagram’s PAX terminal.

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