Up-classed

Got home around midnight, after a late flight from Chicago to St. Louis last night. Because Cs was over (except for some workshops) and I had taken in all of the Magnificent Mile I felt like taking in, I took an early cab (shared with a rep from a trade publishing company well-known in rhet/comp, but who seems only to sell and not to actually know the field) to O'Hare.

I arrived so early that the self-check-in kiosk wasn't willing to generate a seat assignment for me. So after watching some of the Texas-LSU game and tooling around on the internet (because O'Hare had the most reasonably priced wireless access I had encountered the whole trip, and I had lugged my laptop around for all those days, and so wanted to at least feel as though it hadn't been a complete waste of effort), I checked in at my gate (still quite early) and was given a center seat. I protested mildly that I had arrived three hours early, so the agent promised to move me if something opened up.

Something did, and I was given a new boarding pass. But it wasn't until John (who was on the same flight) was telling me about his own recent upgrade to First Class that I realized my new boarding pass was stamped with a large black "FIRST."

So I got to fly (for 45 minutes, since I was going only from Chicago to St. Louis) in comfort. The thing is, once you sit in those seats, you realize that it isn't so much "luxury" as really what anyone deserves, but doesn't get. (Unless you fly Midwest, out of Milwaukee, which offers only First-Class-grade seating, and warm chocolate chip cookies to boot. I miss having ready access to that airline. Sigh.) The seats give you just enough room so that you don't feel as though you have to hold your arms in tight for fear of elbowing the person next to you. You don't have to keep your knees in something between a 90 and 45 degree angle. You aren't almost hit in the face when the person in front of you decides to recline back. You can let your body relax instead of staying unnaturally bound up.

But, no, most of us must stay tensely compact while flying. It can't be a good thing. Meanwhile, in First Class, people relax with free drinks. They read a special airline magazine just for them. (This month's includes an article about Pilates and Yoga. It grieves me that yoga has become a panacea for the wealthy business class.)

Only the rich get to move their bodies freely.

(And I will have more to say about CCCC, no doubt. Although Spring Break was slow in coming, I'm relieved that I have the upcoming week off. I'm always exhausted after Cs, and this year I'll actually have a chance to catch up on sleep before returning to campus. Nice.)