Hanging out Amidst Mountains

Hello,

I made it to Utah in great time. I was a little concerned when I saw that my first plane was going to leave 15 minutes late. There was only about 40 minutes between flights. I remembered Leroy talking about it taking quite a while to get from one gate to the other. My seat mate, who flies every weekend, told me it would indeed be close. We did make up time in the air and it was only about ten minutes late leaving so we were right on time.

The only problem was sitting in the very last seat of the plane makes it difficult to get off quickly. I was able to get ahead of the people sitting closest to me who knew I needed to move a bit faster. I also slipped between the people as soon as I saw my bag at the plane side area. Then I did not hesitate to ask an agent where I could find the plane to Salt Lake. She slipped on her glasses and looked at a board that I could have found. But I was happy to have her do that for me so I could ask her how to get to gate G. It only took a bit of walking, a tram ride and more walking. As I came up to the gate I could see a few people in line. I asked someone if they were going to Salt Lake the answer was yes and they are loading zone 2, well that was my zone so I walked right on the plane.

This time I was seated between a pilot and a woman who slept a good bit of the time. After a while the pilot started talking to me and I learned a good deal about his job. He lives in MN, but is based in Detroit so he sometimes has to commute to work. For instance he was commuting to SLC so he could fly to Paris. I had no idea. He also commented that he was flying with people he has not met before and would spend up to ten hours with them in a small space. He added, “You often become instant friends, but you might never see them again.”

Interesting to think about. Especially for someone who sees their coworkers every day. He did say that he often sees the same people again and again, even from other airlines because some places they all tend to stay in the same hotels.

I learned a lot. It certainly helped the time slip away.

Paula