Musings of a Texas Gal in NYC – Planes, Trains, and Subways
Jul 29 2007

I’m going to begin my musings with describing my travel to/from/within NY.  I flew Delta Connection (run by Shuttle America) direct from Austin to JFK.  I was in the very last row on a seat that didn’t recline.  Whenever the pilot or flight attendant said something over the loudspeaker all of us in the back row jumped with surprise and covered our ears because it was so loud.  The plane seemed new and the first one that I can recall flying on with two seats on either side of the aisle….Embraer 170.  One of the flight attendants looked like he really would rather be somewhere else.

There was a baby on board who was very unhappy and it seemed like no matter what the parents did, the baby was determined to be unhappy.  I helped them out by giving them something I had in my purse, but I’m not even sure they knew it came from me because I asked the people in the row in front of me to pass it up…it seemed to calm him down a bit.  It gave me an idea for a future Baby Tip by Babble Soft that I’ll post about soon.

The thing I found most unusual was that for a 4 hour flight over lunch time they had no meal service.  They had a few snacks but by the end of the flight they had run out of the Sun Chips and they had run out of Ginger ale!  I don’t drink ginger ale but some of the women sitting across the aisle from us did.

So once at JFK, I was of course starving.  Seeing only a Burger King with a huge line and a non-descript Pizza place, I decided to wait until I got to my cousin’s place.  I made my way to the Air Train and was helped by a nice MTA employee named Mohammed.  He helped me buy my $5 Air Train ticket and when I told him I would be here for about a week, he advised me to by the unlimited week long $24 Metrocard.  On Wednesday after the conference was over, I realized I probably only needed a $14 card.  I think he assumed I was a tourist and was going to use the subway a lot, but I only used it to/from the airport and the conference.  Anyway, his intentions were good and he was extremely helpful.

From the Air Train I took the A train towards Brooklyn. An Asian woman let me look at her map and once I got out at the appropriate stop an African American woman could tell I looked clueless asked me if I needed help and pointed me to the right exit. [I mention the races of the people who helped me primarily because I was attending a Multi Cultural Women’s conference, and I will elaborate more on the race topic in future posts.]

Contrary to what people usually say about New Yorkers being cold/rude, I experienced the opposite.  Stereotypes are quick to surface and not so easy to change.  I always find it funny when people ask me if I have a cowboy hat or cowboy boots and if I know JR just because I live in Texas.  For the record, I do not currently own a cowboy hat or cowboy boots and I don’t know JR.

The subway is so convenient and full of life.  It’s a sea of humanity all crowded into a bunch of little tubes.  I am always amazed at how many different kinds of people are on the subway. 

I’m typing this post on my return trip on the same type of aircraft.  Our flight was supposed to depart at 5:25 pm but we did not actually take off until 9:30 pm.  We sat on the tarmac waiting to get into the line to get on the runway for over 3 ½ hours.   They told us that one runway was closed down but they didn’t say why.  They allowed us to turn our phones on and when I called my husband he said all they said was there were delays due to weather and I can assure you there was no inclement weather….a few clouds in the sky but that’s it.  Personally, I think there was some security issue going on because later the attendant said the reason was that for planes flying SW they have to fly over Robinsville 6 and that was shut down and that it would be up in 30 minutes.  Huh??!??  I was scratching my head over that one.  [Found out later from a friend who works at NASA and another friend who flies planes that Robinsville 6 does exist so it wasn’t a conspiracy after all!]  So 15 minutes later we were taking off.  The flight attendant is funny and cheesy at the same time.  If he was trying to distract us from thoughts of imminent doom, he did a good job.

Since they were showing off their signature drinks, I decided to try their $5 Passion Fruit Mojito with a splash of OJ while waiting.  Many others on the flight also enjoyed a drink.  My guess is that they made more money on drinks on this trip than normal.  So far I’ve had some non-descript Biscoff biscuits and a bag of Sun Chips for snacks.  Thank goodness I had that horrible $11 tuna salad sandwich with soggy fries in the airport before I got on the plane. 🙄  

Now it’s almost 11 pm NY time so I think I’ll attempt to read a book and lull myself to sleep.  Oops just hit a patch of turbulence they said would last 20 or so minutes so no book for me.  I miss my family.

Update: I arrived in Austin around midnight that night and realized the next day that I left the book I mentioned above in the seatback in front of me.  I have called lost and found twice and left two messages but still have not heard back.

Author: Aruni | Filed under: new york city, travel | 7 Comments »

---