Who's Hungry?

Well, this is my first NY-based blog posting. I am wondering whether my newfound cleverness carries over to another time zone.

Of course, it was inevitable for me to post some good words on cross-country air travel. I have been doing 10 such trips a year for the past ten years. Usually, it's Flight 114, LAX to EWR, coming east. That would be American Airlines, which I have flown almost exclusively. I have about a gazillion miles with them, so I stay with them. Heck, I was on that morning AA 114 on September 20, 2001. It was me bumped up to first class with about four other people, including actor Timothy Busfield.

And that brings me to air travel today. For the year following 9/11, air travel was actually a wonderful thing. I got bumped up all the time. The food in first class is edible. Luggage was usually waiting for you at the claim areas. AA went through the marketing campaign of pulling out seats to increase legroom. I always arrived at my destination well rested, refreshed, and barely wrinkled.

That was then. This was today. A full flight with a bunch of USC fans headed to the Meadowlands for the NCAA game. No bump-up available as there was five Executive Platinum frequent flyers ahead of me fighting for one seat. And, despite the fact that I had an exit row, AA apparently found where they had stashed all those seats they had pulled out for legroom. Because they are back. And they apparently breeded more seats, because there was probably more comfort running on the Cambodian airlift.

Food? Well, not in the back. Back in the hinterlands of AA 114, there is "food" for purchase. Have you ever been in some of those snack racks in a gas station? You know the type. Bags of Cheetos, some Slim Jims, and some condoms. (Because you can't have protected sex without some processed foods). Now, imagine that snack rack being pushed up the aisle of a plane (save for the condoms). I wanted to ask if they had Lotto tickets available.

I was famished, so I asked for whatever they had that resembles a muffin or a cookie. For three bucks, they gave me some sort of Snickerdoodle something or other. I looked at the nutritional facts on the package. There were four servings in this one cookie----and one serving was 280 calories!! I handed it back and opted for a package of Craisins.

It was already tight enough in Aisle 17.

Dinner last night (and I kept remembering it today): Gnocchi Puttanesca at Maria's Italian Kitchen on Pico.