Tag Archives: Airport security

We Don’t Fly-Part 2

19 Oct

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

I’ve been looking back on our July Cruise vacation. We flew from Florida to Alaska. We had a lot of anxiety but didn’t feel we could turn down our daughter’s gift of an Alaska cruise, The flight to Vancouver was not ideal, but it wasn’t as nerve wracking as we feared. We were both able to relax For the return flight, our daughter downloaded movies to her iPad Pro for her dad to watch during the flight and he was a happy man.

Our hotel in Vancouver was in the same shopping strip as the famous Tim Horton Donut shop. Now I am a die-hard Krispy Kreme fan. People from up north swear by Tim Horton donuts, so we had to give them a try as they were practically next door. Plus my husband hasn’t found a donut he didn’t like.

This picture was taken the morning after our late and traumatic arrival in Vancouver, so he wasn’t looking too perky. The donuts did lift his spirits.

We made several visits to Tim Horton’s and after multiple “tastings” we gave them a rating, comparing them to Krispy Kreme and Dunkin Donuts.

Overall taste and texture Krispy Kreme was the winner, with Tim Horton a strong second and Dunkin Donuts in last place. Tim Horton did win first place in the apple fritter category, my husband’s favorite treat. Eating one is like enjoying a fried apple pie with a nice amount of apple bits. Dunkin Donuts came in last place.

Moving along back to our flying experience…Going through airport security was exasperating. Seeing our stuff going through a scanner ahead of us made me crazy. ANYONE could pick up our stuff. My husband was in a wheelchair and I was always ahead of him while they detained him.

Our daughter became so stressed trying to make sure my husband and I were ok that on the flights home, I agreed to being wheeled through the airport too. It kind of hurt my pride, but truth be told, the wheelchair escorts walked so fast I couldn’t keep up with them.

By the time our trip was over, we had overcame our fear of airplane travel. We would definitely be willing to fly again if anyone offers us a free vacation! Well, except for the scam caller who claimed to be from Expedia and offered me a too good to be true deal.

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Flight Day and Airport INsecurity

8 Sep

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

July 22, 2023 flight day.

Our suitcases had been packed and ready for two days. Our daughter had spent her day off work getting us organized and she had done an outstanding job of it. We didn’t want to mess it up but of course there was some stealthy tucking here and there in our carryons. We felt a bit like children hiding something from their mom.

We had chosen an evening flight in the hope that my husband would have less anxiety and even sleep part of the way. A friend offered to give us a ride to the Orlando airport but I suspect she may have been rethinking her offer when she saw how much luggage we had. Her car was a midsize SUV and we weren’t sure our luggage would fit but our daughter once again came to the rescue with her excellent luggage placement.

We arrived at the airport feeling relaxed and not the least nervous about the flight. There was a bit of confusion checking our luggage and getting the wheelchair for my husband, but soon we moved on to security. That’s when the chaos began.

Since we were basically first time fliers, my husband watched a lot of You Tube videos about processing through security. He was carrying a CPAP machine and a nebulizer and felt anxious about them being confiscated. ( I had assured them they wouldn’t be allowed to do that)

Photo Credit: Michael Gray, Flickr

Our daughter went through the scanning process first, then an airport attendant pushed my husband forward. I followed behind. But somehow, my husband was pulled out of the line and abandoned by the attendant. The line was chaos. Our daughter was frantically gathering our things from the scanner and we were both looking for my husband. She went back into the line and found him sitting alone and stressed. No one in security had any idea why he was left. it was upsetting.

We got the attention of the airport staff who was supposed to bring him through security and finally we were all processed. As if to make up for the delay at security, the attendant pushing my husband’s wheelchair sped through the terminal so that I could barely keep up. We arrived at our gate with no further incidents and settled down to wait for our flight.

About an hour before the flight an announcement was made stating the flight was overbooked and asking for volunteers to not board. Our response was no way!.

We were flying into Vancouver, Canada and I was hoping that would be a better experience….

I'm a winner

After my retirement, I decided to re-learn the canning and preserving skills I learned from my mother but hadn’t practiced for twenty years. I titled the blog Old Things R New to chronicle my experience.  Since then I have been blessed to have six other bloggers join me, DiVoran Lites, Bill Lites,  Judy Wills, Louise Gibson, Janet Perez Eckles and Melody Hendrix

In addition to blogging, I’m a general  “mom Friday” for my author daughter, Rebekah Lyn. I also manage her website, Rebekah Lyn Books  

My 2023 goal is continue to use my love of photographs and words to be an encourager on social media.

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