The Airplane Incident

Spring break is always a great time to fly off to somewhere and escape from life as you know it for a taste of adventure and experience somewhere other than home. To do this we sometimes have to take an airplane to get there.

I used to hate to fly. My ears would bother me and I tend to be somewhat claustrophobic. Over the years I've gotten to actually look forward to flying. It's much faster than driving which allows for a longer vacation! :)

This spring break I went to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina, which is amazing by the way. It was great to have weather in the 70's....perfect for golfing!!!! Well, it was the plane ride home that is my focus. I had a connecting flight in Atlanta, GA.

Everyone boarded the plane and to our discomfort there was a screaming child in the back of the plane. Not just a little crying and fussiness. This was all out whaling to the point of piercing in your ears. It was a two year old little girl and she was having nothing to do with putting on her seat belt. The male stewardess was trying to get the mother to calm her child down so we could taxi down the runway. To no avail. He approached the mother again and I heard her say,"she's two years old.....what do you expect?" I really felt sorry for her. You could see the annoyance by all the passengers. Everyone just wanted to get in the air so you could put your headphones on and tune the crying out.

We began to taxi out and for a second it was quiet. Finally, we were on our way. All of a sudden the pilot came on the speaker saying he had a "concerned passenger" and we would be returning to the dock for a brief time and he apologized for the delay it would cause. Nobody knew what was going on. I was hoping they weren't going to ask the mother to leave the plane. A security guard came on the plane and went to the back of the plane and escorted a man off the plane. He returned a short while later only to tell the woman with the child that he was being ejected from this flight and she is to fly home without him. She was upset and crying but stayed on the plane without him. It must have been awful for her to do that knowing he was the cause of the plane to be delayed and the unknown of what is going to happen to him. The plane finally resumed its flight and we were about 25mins. late getting into Milwaukee. The little girl was quiet the whole way until we were about to land then she began to get fussy but not to the degree before.

When we got off the plane I saw the mother standing off to the side and I approached her and let her know that i felt for her and she thanked me. I found out later that the husband made a personal assault on the male stewardess' sexual preference. I'm appalled that someone would spew their mouth off like that in this day and age. I'm sure just being kicked off the plane was only the beginning of the trouble he caused for himself.

Today i came home from work and went on the computer and was shocked to see one of the headlines on MSN was the death of Natasha Richardson.
A freak skiing accident and she's gone. My daughter was standing by me and asked who she was and i told her that she was the mom in the remake of The Parent Trap movie. I felt sad for her family and for the movie industry to loose such a classy lady.
She always seemed to keep out of the tabloids. The films that she was in were always great to watch.
The article online was vague about what actually happened to cause her sudden death. As a fan of hers i naturally want to know more. In the next days and weeks ahead I'm sure more will be revealed to the public. All we know now is that she was having a skiing lesson on a hill in Quebec and the next thing we know she's being flown to a New York hospital where she is pronounced dead.

School Play

The last two nights i spent at Sheboygan Falls Middle School's play;

The Pirates of Penzance Junior. My daughter was one of the Police in

the play.

I remember when play tryouts were arriving and Emi was sooooo excited

to join the cast! She wanted a speaking part but unfortunately didn't get one.

The speaking roles are usually given to the 7th and 8th graders. She's in 6th.

Instead she was part of the chorus as a Police. She was disappointed. I told

her there were no small roles and it is because of all the background actors

that makes the show complete. That was not what she wanted to hear. Her

response was, "that is what you are supposed to say...you are my mother!"

She was right, but i wanted her to be happy.

Play practices were after school from 3:15-4:30 three times a week for six wks.

The last week practice was in full costume and went until 5:30. It was a lot of

running but i was glad to do it. We had to come up with a black blazer, black

pants, white shirt and white gloves to complete the look. They had Police hats

from back in the 1900's England for them at school. With each practice all i

heard was: the play is boring, why do i have to go, and can i quit? i explained

to Emi that she committed to the cast and couldn't let them down.

Well, Thursday this week they preformed the play for the school and she came

home so excited. I couldn't believe this was the same child that was complaining

the week before. I, of course had tickets for both Friday and Saturday night. That

is what mom's do. She had to be at school about an hour before the play started

so i went early with her and got a great seat in the front and just chatted with

other mom's i knew who were also there extremely early but also didn't mind to

get a good seat in the small auditorium of the middle school.

The first night i just took pictures of her and the cast; but the second night per

Emi's request i videotaped the play for her. Of course i went early again in case

u were wondering. i don't mind a little down time. i was in the front row so no

heads to video around!!

Being there both nights, i think that Saturday night was much better. The kids all

seemed to be more comfortable on stage. They sang out more and enunciated their

words much more clearly. It was very enjoyable and now that it's all over the kids

wish they could do it again! Emily came home and is watching the video i taped

and singing along. She realized that her part was just what it should be and some

day it will be her day to have a lead. She already said that she's trying out next

year.