Our vacation ended & the kids and I were flying home out of Toronto Pearson's International Airport.
I checked us all in at the kiosk, we breezed through Security & US Customs, then made our way to the Gate. I admired the beautiful murals, fancy tile work on the walkways & settled in a nice plush chair near the check-in desk. As time drew near to our boarding time, I noticed there still wasn't any employees at the check-in desk. Then there was a PA announcement, which my son interpreted, that our flight was now at a different Gate, at the other end of the Terminal.
So off we trudged, I soon noticed the walkway was growing narrower and the fancy tile work was replaced by plain industrial flooring. Gone were the murals and replaced by exposed steel girders and open ductwork. Peeking out windows as we walked I see barb-wired topped fences. We took the elevator down 2 floors & we continued thru this maze where the floor sloped downward every so often and some spots were dimly lit. I thought of the line in Princess Bride, "You're in the Pit of Despair".
We finally end up at two large steel double doors with a large crowd gathered in front of them. There's now 4 different flights leaving through these doors & everyone's waiting with tickets and carryons like cattle waiting in front of shipping chutes. I don't know if there was air conditioning there or not but I certainly didn't feel it.
Finally it was our turn to pre-board, we stumble down the tarp-covered cement walkway, and then suddenly we were exposed to several small planes in a row. One had just started up it's propellers. I froze and held my kids back. I've never experienced this before. Soon a flight attendant went by pushing a rider in a wheelchair, so we followed her to the plane. It was a CSR700, and only 4 seats wide, "puddle jumpers" I think they're called.
As we settled into our seats, and the plane filled with passengers, I tried to calm down a bit. But my over active imagination & anxious brain wouldn't have any of that. "How do we know we're on the right plane? We just followed some random person fer cryin' out loud" I blurted. My girl's eyes got wide as saucers "Mom! Why did you have to go and say that". Soon I heard the announcement "Welcome (mumbling mumbling) Washington Dulles...." "OK We're on the right one".
Soon our plane took off and we flew outta Pearson's Ass.....
Tracy,
"One finds limits by pushing them" ~ Herbert Simon
I checked us all in at the kiosk, we breezed through Security & US Customs, then made our way to the Gate. I admired the beautiful murals, fancy tile work on the walkways & settled in a nice plush chair near the check-in desk. As time drew near to our boarding time, I noticed there still wasn't any employees at the check-in desk. Then there was a PA announcement, which my son interpreted, that our flight was now at a different Gate, at the other end of the Terminal.
So off we trudged, I soon noticed the walkway was growing narrower and the fancy tile work was replaced by plain industrial flooring. Gone were the murals and replaced by exposed steel girders and open ductwork. Peeking out windows as we walked I see barb-wired topped fences. We took the elevator down 2 floors & we continued thru this maze where the floor sloped downward every so often and some spots were dimly lit. I thought of the line in Princess Bride, "You're in the Pit of Despair".
We finally end up at two large steel double doors with a large crowd gathered in front of them. There's now 4 different flights leaving through these doors & everyone's waiting with tickets and carryons like cattle waiting in front of shipping chutes. I don't know if there was air conditioning there or not but I certainly didn't feel it.
Finally it was our turn to pre-board, we stumble down the tarp-covered cement walkway, and then suddenly we were exposed to several small planes in a row. One had just started up it's propellers. I froze and held my kids back. I've never experienced this before. Soon a flight attendant went by pushing a rider in a wheelchair, so we followed her to the plane. It was a CSR700, and only 4 seats wide, "puddle jumpers" I think they're called.
As we settled into our seats, and the plane filled with passengers, I tried to calm down a bit. But my over active imagination & anxious brain wouldn't have any of that. "How do we know we're on the right plane? We just followed some random person fer cryin' out loud" I blurted. My girl's eyes got wide as saucers "Mom! Why did you have to go and say that". Soon I heard the announcement "Welcome (mumbling mumbling) Washington Dulles...." "OK We're on the right one".
Soon our plane took off and we flew outta Pearson's Ass.....
Tracy,
"One finds limits by pushing them" ~ Herbert Simon
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