Seat 1B…

(Written on my short flight from Burbank to SFO last night.)
The poor woman in 1B. She boarded our flight from Burbank to San Francisco as a standby passenger from a later flight that was also delayed. Rain in SF delayed everything for 2-3 hours. Needless to say everyone on this flight is tense–most are trying to connect to other flights for Christmas. So she boards–excited and hopeful–and finds nooks to store her small bags–the one downside to a bulkhead seat.

Well, the doors are closed and then reopened: “Will standby passenger X please gather your carry-ons and deplane”. The woman in 1B stands in front of a full plane, gathers her belongings, and asks politely for the reason. In an apologetic (but loud) voice, the flight attendant explains that the plane is simply overweight. I’m sure it didn’t help this poor traveler’s self esteem, since she was a bit heavyset. Talk about a string of bad luck 🙁