A very blond moment

This was the first trip we've flown Southwest Airlines since I think my college days. I was completely unprepared for the experience. All I remembered was that they didn't assign seats...

I managed to check-in online 24 hours ahead of flight time, which was about the only thing I did do right! When we got to our gate at the airport, I noticed the A, B, C lines. Figuring those were the seat lines (A=aisle, B=middle, C=window), I went over to the B and C lines and had Eliza sit in one of them and me in the other. We wanted a window seat and the one next to it, so I thought we were set.

I started talking to our other line-mates and realized that there was more to these lines than just the seating position...you got on the plane in the order of the lines. So, having figured this out, I had Eliza and I move to line B. (I didn't want to mess with all of the feisty people in line A that just had to be first.) Then it started to puzzle me...why would anyone choose to sit in the C line and be last on the plane? I sat there for another minute and mustered up my gall. Then I leaned over and asked the person at the head of line C, "With a choice in lines, can I ask you why you'd choose to board the plane in line C?" The girl just about laughed in my face! She pointed to her boarding pass and informed me that "that big letter right here is the line you board in."

I looked at my ticket. Yep...a big A. Embarrassed, we now went over to the longest line formed to this point. Now in our correct boarding line, we were able to witness the intensity of line A firsthand. People were putting bags in front of others while they were away. One woman snapped at another for having her bag touching her. You get the picture...Baltimore airport skirmishes.

Of course the outcome was fine. Eliza indeed got a window seat, and I sat next to her. On our flight home, I was much more schooled in the ways of flying Southwest. ;)