More Hassles

In Atlanta, all 3 boarding passes printed out. But I had no boarding zone on the Polish Air ones. I asked the lady checking as people boarded and was told I had to check in with the desk, where they issued me new ones. WTF were the boarding passes that I had good for?

I had managed to charge everything beforehand, but the bottle filler was too slow to stand and wait for, so I only had a bit.

They served meals, drinks, and snacks, so I didn’t dehydrate or starve.

Surprising me was the fact that I had metal fork, spoon, and butter knife. Actual metal, not plastic or bamboo.

I won’t comment on the meal. Airline meals are to give you something to do and maybe some nourishment, they have no need for flavor or quality. Even so, you are so grateful to get it.

I couldn’t figure out how to recline, so I did the same as my neighbor and laid forward on the tray table. Not comfortable at all, but got a few hours. That’s about what I’d get at home, so that’s OK.

I had noticed during the flight, that the Orbitz app had a gate listed for my flight out of Warsaw, but never for the flight in.

While boarding and then as people were getting off, I noticed they were playing music on the PA. I thought I recognized the latter music as Chopin. Then it hit me, we were at Warsaw Chopin Airport. Duh.

I had a aisle seat, near the front, so I exited quickly. I had to use the toilet, but we were about to land, so I figured I would just wait and use a real toilet.

A man was asking people their destination and directed them accordingly (well, at least mine was right).

There was a long hallway, with signs pointing towards my gate. However, there was a crowd down near the end. There was a security ribbon splitting the hall in 2, one side for EU/Shengen citizens and the other for every one else.

I could see ahead a passport control. OK, no problem, except I notice that my flight boarded in 30 minutes and I still didn’t know how far down the gate was.

I moved through quickly enough, but I was sweating a bit with worry.

And then…

ANOTHER SECURITY CHECKPOINT!!!!!!

I was arriving at the checkpoint right as the boarding was beginning. So I quickly kicked off my shoes (I just bought velcro shoes specifically for this) and unloaded my electronics onto the belt.

And of course, the woman before me still had her shoes on and was made to return and put them on the belt, along with her jewelry, before she could re-try. They made me wait for her to finish that. Then the guard waved the wand all over her, despite never triggering the metal detector.

I had to throw my stuff back in the bags and ran down the hall holding my shoes, because I didn’t have time to stop and put them on.

I haven’t checked, but I think the flight might have arrived late. There should have been 90 minutes for me to change over, minus the 20-25 minutes where the close the doors to begin departure.

Fortunately, they had just begun loading. I felt bad for the guy next to me, as I had run all the way from security, wearing my flannel jacket and backpack, so I was sweaty. I turned on the air vent, for the first time ever, so I should have blown most away from him.

Needless to say, but I didn’t have a chance for the toilet.

Three flights, three security screenings. Crap.

I know that the next 2 are going to also, but I am really hoping the last 2 don’t. I can’t take it.