Staff Writer
Paige Wilson

Flying can be one of the most stressful times for anyone. Whether it is the crying children, long lines, or extremely slow people there is always one reason why we don’t enjoy flying at the airport and it doesn’t help that we live right next to the fourth largest airport in the country.
You always hear those crazy stories of people sleeping in airports or losing their luggage and most people think these are not true or over exaggerated stories people say. But don’t be fooled these are all real and can happen to you.

However the people that were affected by these crazy events sure their advice in hopes that you won’t be dreading your next trip to the airport.

Lesson number one; if you are arriving in a city where you will need to take a cab to your hotel like New York, always wait in the cab line no matter how long the line is. I made this mistake on my last trip to New York City with my mom.

A man came up to us as we were leaving the airport and offered to drive us to our hotel. Of course, I was standoffish; it’s not like I am willing to jump in a car with a total creeper. He then showed us his business card for a limo service so we just decided, “why not?”Wrong choice.

As soon as we left the parking lot we were pulled over by the NYPD and they asked to check our bags. The guy was not crazy he just didn’t want to pay for his cab sticker that drivers must have.
Another fear we face when traveling is losing our luggage. Principle secretary Terry Philips was faced with this nightmare on a trip to Mexico with a friend in college.

“I went on a trip to Mexico with a friend but the flight had a layover and unfortunately my friend’s luggage never made it to Mexico,” Philips said.

They had to share clothes and every time she looks back at the photos she can’t help but laugh because all the clothes her friend was wearing were hers.

“If you are going to have a flight with a layover always check your bags to your final destination instead of your layover spot,” Philips said.

There was a time when flying wasn’t so difficult, but for many of us we can’t really remember. Before the 9/11 attack we could travel with more ease. Now there are more restrictions and security checks for our safety.

When flying I had another freaky moment. As we landed and were eager to get off the plane we told to stay in our seats and three huge men all in suits came in and escorted a woman off the plane into a security exit.

Over the holidays there was a scare when a Nigerian man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to hide an explosive in his underwear. This reeked havoc across the country causing even more precautions a security checks at the peak of traveling.

Junior Cole Richter was one of the unfortunate people who were traveling during this time. He had no problem departing, however when he left at the end of the week before we came back to school he ran into the affects of the terrorist attack.

“As I was flying home I noticed a difference in how long it was taking to get through the airport and security compared to when I was flying there,” Richter said.

He thought the lines seemed longer in security due to more thorough security checks.

If you are flying any time soon, it would not hurt to call ahead to see if there are any new restrictions so you can be prepared.

The plane waits for no one.