An End to Travels
At the time of typing this I’m sitting in Atlanta’s
Heartfield-Jackson International airport. And as I sit here, I’m happy to be
surrounded by travelers. Others like myself. But I’m happy to be here.
I just got off of a 5ish hour flight from San Jose. I feel a
bit icky and my mouth would probably have long dried out if it wasn’t for the
fact that I had pre-planned and lazily chewing on some gum. And as I think
about it, I probably should have showered at least once during my delay in San
Jose. Hot tubbing for a while doesn’t really fix my cleanliness needs but I
must admit that the ability to have a lovely soak really is nice.
I will admit that this airport has been getting shittier and
shittier every time I visit it. One year ago when I had come back from San Jose
for my first time, I had gotten off what I will argue as my MOST uncomfortable
flight ever. That is to say I have yet to be on a flight that is more
uncomfortable. (Did I just jinx this flight? Please say I didn’t) But yeah, no
free wi-fi. And I’m stuck in the middle of nowhere. I hate that. I guess it’s
true that I could easily get off my ass and explore a little. There MUST be
something interesting in this area. Well that’s a lie. With Internet I’m at
home just about anywhere. And that is why I need my phone to work.
But back to me in the now. I’m sitting here typing my life
away again. I’ve just arrived home to an airport that if nothing else, I feel
at ease with. A year ago this would have been the first airport I had ever gone
back to. And I guess it’s because of that small fact that I’ve traveled to this
place as much that I feel so at ease here. I sit here and type away thinking
that nothing’s changed. But no one recognizes me. No one looks twice or thinks
of anything and I know for a fact that these people could care less for my
present status. But then again as a people watcher, it’s my job to be invisible
right?
As for my previous several days of entries. I do apologize
for the quality of my messages. I realize that many of them are quite short and
irregular in nature. This is due to my inability to find free wifi. Well
supposedly there was free wifi at the Marriot but having preferred to earn
Hilton Honors points I foolishly
persuaded Neil into booking a stay at the San Jose Hilton.
___ rant begin
The San Jose Hilton needs to be closed down. If nothing else
the staff needs to be re-educated in customer service. No seriously. How the hell
do you REFUSE TO HELP A BLIND PERSON WITH HIS BAGS? Yes I’m serious. This
happened. My blind friend Mike was part of my party and during checkout at the
San Jose Hilton, the front staff seriously refused to help us get a baggage
cart OR help with our bags. We ended up finding some polite convention go-ers
to aid us in moving our bags.
I ended up openly tweeting about the situation to little
effect. From an outsider’s point of view, I might seem like a heartless
individual who’s attempting to milk a situation for some value. But that’s not
really the case is it? In the end, the hotel failed to provide a basic service
that I expected when I paid for the room.
I am well aware that during a major checkout at the end of a convention
the situation is often hectic and that baggage carts and personnel may be scarce,
if not non-existent.
However this is not a roach infested motel in a seedy
party of town. This is a downtown convention center hotel. It’s supposed to be
able to handle the influx of people. Hell I wish I could have gotten the names
of the hotel staff. But we were busy attempting to get our bags out before we
were charged for a late checkout.
In this day and age, can we really not expect our fellow
human beings to help us with helping a disabled individual with his bags?
In the end I am just glad that I was able to persuade some
of the convention individuals to aid us.
I’m still quite irked over the whole matter. What could have
been a very nice stay melted into this. This is a farce to the honor of the
trust that travelers share with the services that they deserve.
___ Rant over
I’m still here at the airport. I feel useful. And less so
every few days. But more so than I would be willing to admit. I burned off my
reserve of points in 2 different outlets for this trip. The first being my
skymiles, the latter my HH points. My friend Neil was able to get a next to
free stay out of all of this and I’m glad for that matter. I hope his stay at
the Doubletree is pleasurable if nothing else. Our soak in the hot tub was nice
if nothing else. But from his twitter feed, I’ve come to learn that his shower
head was sealed shut and that he ended up in a different room. I hope his stay
is better. I actually think I’ll complain about it some more. Service with my
Hilton group hotels these last few days is just borderline offensive. Well no,
not offensive, this is just plain rude.
My plane begins boarding soon. And I should probably pack up
while I still have the time. I’ll sit here typing away until the last few
minutes.
Boarding now. Type more when I do have internet.
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