One Open Seat

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 I’ve been on 6 flights in the last three weeks.

There has been one open seat on all of those flights.

The seat next to me was open on my first flight yesterday morning.

And it’s funny because I usually don’t have that sort of luck. Just before I realized I had an empty seat, a behemoth of a man entered the plane.

“Oh Dear Lord,” I muttered, but he sat in the second last empty seat a few rows ahead of me. Before he lowered his better than 300 pounds into his resting spot I caught the look on the face of the guy who got up to let him in.

The guy wasn’t happy.

And while everyone has a mask on and there haven’t been any incidents, there are usually some in the vicinity who don’t have the mask over their nose.

The mask doesn’t bother me all that much, but 4 or 5 hours of it is a problem because my mouth gets dry because when I wear a mask:

I’m a mouth-breather.

I don’t know why and I wonder if others also forget to breathe through their nose when wearing a mask.

By the time the plane lands, I’m usually pretty tired of the mask and I gulp for air when I get outside.

Plenty of people haven’t been on a flight in a year. I’ve flown fairly regularly all year...

...and now the airlines are back in business.

The airports are packed...

...but the restaurants still aren’t open.

And do you know how many times they announce the mask policy?

I counted 8 announcements about how to wear a mask, and the fact that there was sanitizer available.

Here’s the other good thing:

They finally have figured out how to load a plane.

The people in the back are getting on first!

Much less congestion. A whole lot smarter.

When they start selling tickets to enter the plane 3 minutes earlier (for the low, low price of $35) I’ll know that we are officially back to all that is truly aggravating about flying.

But yesterday, I enjoyed the seat beside me being wide open.

And the behemoth?

He fell asleep.

His snoring rocked the plane.

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