I made it to New York late last night after spending the entire day at LAX on the standby list – #99 out of god knows how many other people desperate to get to the East Coast for the holidays. It wasn’t a pretty picture. All I can say is THANK GOD the eight other flight attendants waiting for the jumpseat ahead of me gave up and went home! Persistence pays. (So does stalking, but that’s another story.)
In just half an hour a Kew Gardens Cab will pull up to the curb outside my crashpad in Queens (where it’s snowing by the way) and whisk me away into the city – Manhattan. Oh no, it doesn’t suck to be me, not today at least. I’m taking my mother to see the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. After the Christmas show it’s off to see the beautiful tree at Rockefeller Plaza. Then we’ll probably grab a bite to eat. I’m thinking Carmine’s – a glass of wine, a big salad, a plate of lasagna. Then we’ll walk. Everywhere. Perhaps grab a cup of coffee and share a cheesecake. When it gets too cold, we’ll head on over to the hotel, The London NYC. Oh yeah, we’re living it up tonight. Merry Christmas to me!
“And me!” exclaimed my mother from the bedroom when she overheard me reading this post out loud.
Heather Poole 
Those dang LA flights are a pain for standby. I took my Mom on our annual “Mother Daughter Trip” earlier this year to Hawaii … getting back was insane, it was suggested going to LA then flying out of there. Pahlease. 100 People waiting standby already. Portland worked just right. : )
Enjoy your time with your Mom and the City!
Brandi
Oh, I’m so envious — NYC the weekend before Christmas, the wind biting through the ChapStick and the scarf. Give it my love!
Cornwall, by comparison, is dark and damp! On the plus side, no snow to shovel. \o/
–John at http://voyagers.typepad.com
I’ve been #44 on the standby list before (outta SAT, when I was on the AMR side), but never #99! It just goes to show ya, that you never leave the gate before the plane pushes back!
Sounds like a lovely, lovely time with your Mom!
Enjoy New York, its so nice to go there around Xmas time!
happy holidays
BRANDI – non-reving to Hawaii, were you crazy! 🙂 I did it, and I was stressed the entire time!
JOHN – Dang, I left the chapstick at home, but I did give NYC your love. It told me to tell you it loves you back.
BLONDIE – That’s right, never EVER leave the gate area until the plane has pushed back AND don’t forget to make sure it keeps going. I’ve seen a plane push back and then return to the gate, and that’s when I got on. 🙂 Oh the joys of standby
CARINE – Just saw you’re going to be flying for Emirates soon. Congrats. Soon you’ll be experiencing the joys of standby. Get ready!