Philly to Norfolk - Part Two

So, my plane was delayed out of Philly, for maintence by an hour. More and more of my combat skills training classmates were showing up at the gate. Our flight was canx outright - I believe it was because the aircraft wouldn't have been able to carry all of the excess baggage. Me and my gear weigh 426 pounds. I know this because the gentleman at the AMC terminal told me. Yes, I asked. I guessed 500. I'm a better packer than I thought. When they canx my flight, I was put on the same flight as Kim. So we've been hanging out today. Cold Stone is two blocks away from billeting. Coffee ice cream with mini chocolate chips and pecans. That was my dinner. Yum.

There was a screaming baby on the plane. I am usually not annoyed with screaming babies having had the experience of flying with a 10-month old with an ear infection. There was a baby sitting behind me who was not screaming. Both 'babies' were about 14 months old. The difference why one was screaming and not the other? Baby behind me had a mother who was talking to her. "Oh, look at the ocean that's where the fish and sharks live. We are going to be landing soon ..." etc, etc. Baby in front of me had both parents who were holding her, but didn't not talk to her at all. No "what's wrong?" or "look at this" or "when we land we're going to ..." No conversation. No nothing. And just when you thought baby couldn't get any more ear-peircing she did. Again and again. Then the flight attendant rescued us all by bringing the baby the demo oxygen mask. I tried my best to remember her name, but all I can recall was that it started with a "v" and it wasn't a common v name like veronic, victoria, viola or valerie. The baby was quiet and happy, but I'm convinced it wasn't because of the mask - it was a conduit for communication. Flight attendant: "oh, it's a hat! you're so clever! oh, i love your shoe - look you've made a necklace. my son likes those things too." The baby made eye contact, was engaged and knew exactly what was being said. So, to the mom and in dad in row 5 of flight 3287 try talking to your daughter. If you don't start now you're going to have a whole mess of problems by the time she's 15.