It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's a...Flying Cattle Car?

So I feel as though an entire post needs to be dedicated to the indecency that has become air travel.  I'm having a hard time coming up with another aspect of our modern life where we pay so much to get so little. 

Sadly, I flew an exponentially greater amount when I was in middle school and high school than I do now.  With a few scant exceptions, I have really only made trips to Texas, and even then I usually take "Connections" planes. 

I suppose it was a bit of a shock to me at how poor flying had become when I experienced both a big plane and big airports for the first time in a while this past weekend. 

First, PROS:
1-Continental now offers DirecTV on their bigger planes. It is THE best $6 I've ever spent-hands down.  Not only did it entertain me for the 3 plus hours I was on the plane, but on Thursday I got to watch two of my favorite shows: Real Housewives of New York and Bethenny Getting Married, as I was flying over the country.  How cool is that??


CONS:
-Everything else
-Since I was flying with Lauren (who flies a TON) I got to reap the benefits of Elite Access with her.  Unfortunately, this means almost nothing because people stampede towards the boarding line as soon as they call first class.  Why are they so eager to get on a cramped airplane where they no longer get to breathe fresh air?
Probably because NO ONE checks their bags anymore (likely because of the ridiculous fees) so people have to fight for available overhead space. 
After 9-11, I think most people went to checking bags to try to circumvent all of the new rules, but now that you have to pay, its back to images circa 1995 of women bringing a bulging carry-on, a vera bradley duffel and a tote bag purse onto the plane.  Not cool...

-It has been quite awhile since I've had to fly alone on a plane other than the small ones where one side of the aisle is a single seat.  The degree to which you had to be all up close and personal with weird people you don't know is borderline unacceptable.  If they can't make the seats bigger, they should at least fashion bigger dividers so people aren't actually touching arms as much as the annoying couple that insists on holding hands at dinner. 

-Also, where do these people come from that are flying? I'll throw it out there: my ticket was about $350 give or take and I really had to consider whether or not I wanted to spend that amount on a trip.  Though I've obviously cut back a lot since living on my own, I'm still able to indulge myself in a decently luxurious lifestyle and I still had to consider it.  As I looked around the airport, I had to ask myself how, probably 1 in every 5 people, ever had the cash to make it to the airport.  This probably sounds bad to say, but hey it's my blog and I don't have to make it PC.  Perhaps it's because I am older now and am capturing the full experience, but I used to think flying was normal yet still somewhat "exclusive" for lack of a better word. Now I literally feel like I may as well be at a bus station. 

As you can tell, I was rather disillusioned by this weekend's travels, but it was all worth it for the visit itself.  I hope that it gets bad enough in the near future so that they can finally regulate and keep the weirdos/rule breakers in check to make flying a little bit less tortuous.