How I saw Frodo and other travel-related oddities (10/12/03)

• Have you ever seen anyone throw a fit at the airport? Let me assure you that it isn't pretty. While picking up my luggage at LAX I saw an old Asian lady who looked like she'd lost it. She was constantly screaming at both her husband and her thity-something son that she wouldn't talk to them for the rest of the trip. She kept screaming stuff about how they needed tickets for the luggage, and all sorts of other stuff. This lasted for at least 20-30 minutes, and had most of the people in the baggage claim area in fits of laughter (you really needed to see this woman -- a tiny Asian lady with grey hair totally whoppin' on these two grown men. I felt really sorry for those guys)
• I guess New Zelanders must think their country doesn't have much going for it... at one airport I saw a New Zeland Airlines plane which had a large Lord of the Rings (LOTR) ad, including a picture of Frodo (labeled "Frodo" for those who couldn't tell who didn't recognize that little guy with long hair and furry feet) along the back of the plane. Now I liked the movie (which was incidentally shot in New Zeland), but you'd have to be a real LOTR nut to go to New Zeland just for that fact. I guess they might do pretty good w/ the slashdot crowd.
• Aeroflot Airlines is a minimalists dream (ie: it's a bargain airline so you draw your own conclusions). During the 2 meals served on the flight, the only food-related question you get asked is: "beef, chicken, or pasta" (this happened twice). Last time I flew (on Air France), they were a litttle more descriptive -- like "baked chicken with steamed vegetables" or "beef stroganov". With Aeroflot it's like "Would you like the meal behind door number 1, door number 2 or door number 3?" -- the beef and chicken dishes were different each time, so you're really taking a gamble on what you're having -- "um, I'd like door number 2 please".
• Moscow airport is probably the 3rd worst airport I have ever seen (behind the old St. Petersburg airport, and the airport in Delhi (circa 1996) which is the worst I've ever seen). On a completely unrelated note, they use large orange tractors to pull the food and baggage carts (befote this I've only seen various-sized trucks hauling things).