Crazy People at the Airport

The airport is one of the most ridiculous places I have ever been.

You’d think I’d be used to it by now, I’ve been flying since I was two months old.

I’ve been on more planes than probably just about anyone in my school. When I was little we would go on vacations at least three times a year, plus all the trips to Georgia. We would pretty much always fly and never drive. Who wants to sit in a car for 18 hours when you could just fly for 4? Not me. I hate car rides.

So the other alternative is to fly. You get to go to the airport and see all the sites from other cities. Sometimes it’s super frustrating, but not as frustrating as your little TomTom GPS telling you to go down a one way street the wrong way and getting you lost every time you turn it on.

Lately I haven’t gone on as many vacations. I haven’t been flying as much as I used to, but I am flying alone a lot more. Pretty much every time I’ve been on a plane in the last year and a half, actually. I  often go by myself to see my relatives in the south, like Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Georgia. I’ve gone all of those places by myself this year.

Almost every time I have flown recently I have gone through the Chicago O’hare airport. I have that place memorized. There’s a Starbucks right after security and a Johnny Rockette’s just a little ways down. It also has this place called Argo Tea. It’s delicious and I always have to go there to try some weird type of tea and eat some macaroons. I was stuck in this airport for about four hours coming back from Mississippi last summer, so I walked around while I was bored.

I also know the Atlanta airport pretty well from flying there so many times. There’s a Popeye’s on concourse B. That’s really the only thing you need to know.

There are some crazy people in the airports. Foreign people seem to be the craziest. I’m sure I’d look just as stupid as them if I was in another country and could barely speak the language…but man do they annoy me. They always seem to walk so slow...RIGHT in front of you. This is only a problem in big airports really, but it’s so annoying when it happens. They walk slowly in front of you and then turn around and run into you. Or they walk the wrong way. This is America people, we walk like we drive. It’s the opposite of Britain. They also seem to talk louder than everyone else. They get on their phone and start yappin’ in their foreign language. They also just cause problems. Again I’m sure I would too if I were in a foreign country. I wouldn’t know how everything works. But it seems like every flight I’m on they have to go up to the counter and make sure they have a seat, or on the flight they are trying to talk on the phone while we’re in the air and the flight attendant has to come tell them they can’t do that.

The other annoying people are first time fliers. I mean, it’s kind of cute if it’s a little kid. But if you’re a teenager or adult and you’ve somehow never flown before, you need to understand that you have to follow directions. In security you have to take off your shoes and jacket. You need to get rid of any metal on you. Like, how stupid are people? There is a sign RIGHT there and they don’t read it and then they hold up the line and have to go back through the security thing three of four times. It also makes the people working very grumpy, and they’re already scary enough. They also are people who walk very slow in front of you, looking at everything they pass by. Sometimes they freak out about flying. THAT is super annoying to someone like me who passed that scared stage 15 years ago.

Also big families at airports are annoying. Especially ones with small children. The kids scream and cry the WHOLE plane ride. Big families = big migraine for Jessie. They are constantly talking or just making some kind of noise. The kids electronic games are making noise, the husband is on the phone, the teenager is yelling at the 7 year old, the baby is screaming and the mother is yelling at everyone to be quiet. It’s the worst.

There are also crazy people who wear heels at the airport. Like sorry but I just don’t get that. I understand if you have to dress nice because you have to go to a meeting as soon as you get off the plane or something, but don’t you have time to change your shoes woman?! I could not handle that. There’s so much walking in big airports, and standing and waiting.

Crazy crazy people. 

The End of Junior Year

Here it is.

The end of junior year.

Summer is just around the corner.

You would think that means it’s time to relax, but my summers are busier than the school year. Sure, I don’t have to worry about due dates and homework. Overall it may be less stressful. I’m doing fun things instead of boring school, but there’s still so much going on and it’s hard to plan it all out!

I have journalism camp for a week, then church camp the following week. I’m hopefully going to Colorado to look at colleges and have a little fun, then traveling to Oklahoma to visit my family and possibly get a Mustang. I think I’m going on a trip with my boyfriend’s family sometime. That’s already at least four weeks gone out of the summer.

My cousin from Mississippi might also come for a week, or I may go visit her-but that one is less solid than the others because she’s getting ready for college and whatever else.

Between all these trips and camps I’m going to try to find time to hang out with friends… and my boyfriend who will be leaving for college in a mere 3ish months. That’s terrifying. And even THAT time is extremely limited because he’s going to be working 6 days a week. That’s even more terrifying.

And with all of this, I think I am somehow expected to get a job. HA. No one is going to hire someone who can work literally like 2 weeks out of the whole summer. I’m not going to waste the tiny bit of free time I have WORKING. I’m already stressed out enough about this crazy summer!

During that tiny bit of free time I want to have bonfires on our new land, and go mudding and camping and swim in the creek at night. Wow I just sound like a redneck don’t I? Oh well. It’s true. I also want to go to Adventureland and maybe Chicago for a weekend. I want to take art classes somewhere and do lots of photography stuff. I plan to try to get really skinny this summer (which probably will be pushed down to the bottom of my priority list.) I was going to go to Farrell’s or some gym.. I guess I could just save some time each day by not eating! Just kidding. I love food that’s like my MAIN priority. Ha. I’m going to have to start working on scholarships and figuring out what I want to do with my life. I have to/would like to go to about 20 grad parties, 8 of which are on the same day. They’re all important people to me… I can’t leave one out! There’s so many things to do and such little time.

MAKE IT STOP. How do people do this? I don’t understand how some people can be involved in sports and clubs and choir AND have to do all this! Perhaps their summer is not filled to the brim like mine. Because this just seems ridiculous.

I’m going to be so white this summer because I’m never going to have a second to just lay outside in the pool and tan.

I would love for this summer to go by slowly, but I know it won’t. It never does. I’m saying goodbye to junior year, soon I’ll be saying goodbye to summer and all the things I hoped to achieve in it. 

Random Acts of Kindness

Yesterday someone did something nice for me. 

I was at Barnes and Noble, trying to relax and do something I like before the dreaded AP Lang test the next morning. I wanted to get a National Geographic book on photography, but it was 30 dollars and I was pretty sure I only had 27. I ended up just getting a magazine on photography and a magazine on weddings. The cashier smiled and winked and sang, "Someone's getting married!" I just awkwardly shook my head and said no. It's weird how often I get asked that. Do I look like I'm in my 20's? Anyway, the total was about 11 dollars so I was sure I'd have enough. I gave her my debit card, and apparently, there was only 4 dollars on it. I told the cashier that I'd just come back and she said she would hold it for me. All of the sudden the woman behind me asked the cashier how much the difference was. The cashier told her 7 dollars. The lady and her young daughter walked up and she said that she would just pay. It was so nice. I didn't even know how to respond... I just said, "Oh no you don't have to do that..." The lady insisted and I just thanked her over and over. The cashier said "Wow that is so nice!" I didn't know what else to say. Maybe I should have gotten her name so I could send her a thank-you note with the 7 dollars somehow. I know it was only 7 dollars... but still, a total stranger just offering to pay because some teenager didn't do her math right after she bought two Starbucks frappuccinos earlier? (She didn't know that...but still) Who does that? Getting the magazines isn't even what made me happy... I really could have survived without them, but just a random stranger being unimaginably kind to someone made me feel happy. 

Though they are rare, I've heard of these random acts of kindness a lot. Once when I was little some random man in a restaurant paid for me and my parent's meal. I've heard of a friend or two of mine paying for the person behind them in the drive through line. This is more common, but if someone's car breaks down or they slide into the ditch in the winter, people pull over on the side of the road to help them, and even give them their coat while they wait. My boyfriend and I dug someone out of a snowbank once. My dad's pulled people out lots of times. But paying for someone's meal (or magazines) purely out of random kindness? 

That's just wonderful. It makes me want to get a job just so I can do things like that for other people. I want to buy breakfast at Perkins for some old lady sitting all alone. I'm always tempted to leave random notes of kindness around at school or on people's cars, but I don't want anyone to see me do it or recognize my handwriting. I'm also tempted to create a twitter account that just tweets compliments at random people in the twittersphere but I feel like that might just be seen as creepy... 

I always see people tweet about random things that they want... or about how happy they would be if someone brought them food. Of course no one ever does that. But imagine of someone did? If someone they may not even be good friends with showed up with exactly what they wanted... just to be nice. Or if someone mailed them something they really want with no return address so they have no idea who it's from. I want to do that for people. I just want to see how they react... but I mostly just want to let everyone know that people care about them and notice them even if they aren't friends or close friends. People like that lady at Barnes and Noble care about people. Just people. Complete strangers are still people. I love that and I want to be that kind of person too. You can make someone's day.. maybe week or even month- just by a simple random act of kindness.