And Now, A Few Words About Northwest Airlines

Last, but not least after I've returned from my trip, is a few words about Northwest Airlines. In short, I flew from JFK to Detroit, then changed planes to continue my journey on to Kansas City, Missouri, where I met my ride. Because I was suffering from a total of three fractures (two in my arm), none of which were protected with a cast due to their location, I was worried about boarding the plane. I was certain that someone would touch my arm or squish up against me, causing intense pain, so I requested, and was granted, permission to pre-board the plane.

Even before I boarded the plane at JFK, a stewardess, Billi, who had worked at NWA for only six months, took me under her wing while we waited for the plane to arrive (it spent the night snoozing in a hangar, so "the boys" -- the pilots -- had to retrieve it and drive it to the gate so we could board). This took a little while, so the flight was going to arrive late in Detroit, where I had to switch planes.

Billi and her colleague, Judy, kindly decided that since I was somewhat fragile and had to switch planes, they would re-seat me at the front of the plane (in first class!) so I could exit first. Needless to say, I was delighted (I could stretch out my long legs instead of pretending to be a pretzel) and this location turned out to be very fortuitous for making my next flight because my plane was getting ready to leave by the time I boarded (its gate was nearly at the opposite end of the airport).

The return trip was a rather chaotic; even though my flight arrived in Detroit on time, the Detroit to JFK flight was delayed for several hours because of high winds in NYC. We finally arrived in NYC, but deplaned on the windy and cold tarmack and rode busses to the terminal. There were many dozens of airplanes deplaning on the tarmack, I even saw two 747s nearby! The entire time, I was so grateful that I didn't need to use a wheelchair to get off the plane, although I couldn't help wondering what they would do in that unfortunate situation.

So I would like to take this opportunity to thank the hard-working people at Northwest Airlines, especially Billi and Judy, for making my trip so pleasant. You guys are the bestest! I would like to make one suggestion, though: please please PLEASE do something about your in-flight coffee! It's worse than NYC coffee, and that's really saying something!