Day 22 - Flying in August

I guess you could say I am a frequent flyer, I am currently sitting on a plane for what I think will be my 37th take off of the year. (I might be wrong, I am not completely anal about counting these things) And so far there have been 36 landings but if you are reading this you can guess that there were 37. ) I think you’ll agree that's quite a few flights, making me somewhat of a flying expert although I’d hate to see my carbon footprint. There's a certain procedure about flying, check in, passport control, security, gate etc. and with experience comes a certain fluency that infrequent flyers just don't have. Of course familiarity breeds contempt or in my case a kind of blasé attitude - I push the boundaries, get to the airport a little later, take a little longer over my coffee, etc. That is fine most of the time but less so when you are travelling in August, because in August you are likely to get stuck behind the family of first time flyers. The family of first time flyers always have too much luggage, 7 pieces of check in and 9 pieces of carry on for a family of four. Then while the check in woman explains they need to rejig or pay excess they look around in disbelief looking for people to support their cause and argue loudly as the queue builds up behind them. (And I mumble under my breath that it is in the rules, they should have read the rules.) Next it's security and this is real fun to be stuck behind. Every bag has a security breach, dad hasn't taken out his iPad, mum hasn't take out her creams, and the kids have enough fizzy drinks in their bags to keep them high on sugar for a month. Then mum forgets to take off her jewellery and the kids their belts, setting off the metal detectors in a cacophony of noise. Meanwhile I've got a plane to catch and being a smug frequent flyer have pushed the timings to the limit. The Muppet show in front of me is making me more than a little anxious. Of course it is not their fault, they are new to this. A better man than me would show patience, maybe offer some advice or assistance. I on the other hand, roll my eyes and tut loudly in a display of passive aggressive petulance that is becoming my trademark.