The Random Ramblings of Samm Diep

Random Airport Tangents

Wow! Today was the latest I've ever boarded a flight!

You know it's not a good sign when you're passing the crew on your way to the plane and they ask, "Are you Sammantha?" Yeah. I was the last on the plane. I hate that!

After missing the 5:07a.m. SkyRide bus at the Park-n-Ride which would've put me at the airport by 5:21, I had to wait around almost half an hour for the 5:35 which didn't get me there until 5:49 for my 6:30 flight to MSP. Yikes! I'm just thankful my bags made it.

I almost made that danged bus too. They were just boarding bus when I pulled into the parking lot. I dumped my bags and found a spot. I ran my tail off just to see it speeding away. I know they saw me. Oh well. It was probably full anyway. That's what I get for staying up all night (minus the one hour nap from 2:30 to 3:30).

So, you know you fly a lot when you are remembered by TSA staff. In December, also on my way to MSP to visit Mike, I remember my carry-ons getting searched because I had brought these two snow globe soap things for his nieces for xmas and he told me snow globes were not permitted (probably because of the liquid rule) but let me go when I explained they were actually soap.

I remembered him because he sounded like he was from New Zealand but when I asked him he said he was from California. I also remember this because I rarely ask people where they're from. This stems from the countless number of times that that's been the first question out of someone's mouth when meeting me. Yeah, before "What's your name?" or "How are you?" or even "Come here often?" It's either "Are you Korean?" or "Where 'you from?" (to which I like to respond, "Denver" because that really gets their panties in a bunch). The more PC attempts of "Where are your parents from?" or "What's your heritage (or nationality)?" are quite amusing as well.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very proud to be Vietnam-born Chinese, but when it's the first thing someone wants to know about me, like it defines who I am, and usually to the style of a trivia, guess-the-Asian game, it can be annoying and depending on the asker, sometimes even offensive.

So, believe me, I'm quite sensitive to that question. If I asked him anything it would've been "Where's your accent from?" because I recall finding it odd when he responded, "Does it sound like I have an accent? Where does it sound like it's from?" followed by, "Are these snow globes?"

So, maybe he too was tired of dumb people playing guess-the-accent and has fun just saying "California." Okay, TSA guy, you got me!

Maybe I should start saying I'm from Portugal or Bosnia or....???

Next tangent - Is there anyone out there that does NOT sleep on a 6:30 flight?

Also, I made bison soft tacos tonight, sub spinach for lettuce and provolone for cheddar. It was a fun little experiment.

We'll spend most of the day tomorrow packing to hit the road early Monday morning to head back to Denver, only for a day, before we leave for Vegas. Sweet!

posted by Samm @ 5/02/2008 10:13:00 PM