Kayoh @ 190

Part of my job includes a bit of PR duty, especially with the kiddies. Not too often, but every once in awhile when we’re getting ready for the next flight, a child will come up to the cockpit and take a look around. Most of the time, they are shy and don’t really know why Mom and/or Dad made them go visit the scary pilots in the front of the big airplane. Usually, I just let them sit in my seat and ask Mom if she has a camera, then a few pictures are taken, the kid tries to leave as fast as they can while the parents excitedly thank us for giving this experience to their child.

Today, however, was a different and more rewarding experience for me. While in Pittsburgh, getting ready to go to San Fransisco this little boy showed up in the cockpit all by himself and started talking to us. The guy I was flying with did the usual of offering up his seat, which the boy promptly climbed right on up and started having a great time playing with the various controls and buttons.

We find out that his name is Noah and that he has flown on Northwest, Air Canada, and Japan Airlines to name a few. Noah is a world traveler at seven years old. He then asks us what would happen if we ran out of gas. We tell him that we have enough gas to fly for six hours but our flight will only take four and a half. To which he counters with, “yeah, but what if you still run out?”.

Somewhere in there, Noah’s Mom appears and talks to us for a few minutes and during that time I watch as Noah figures out how to strap himself into the five-point seatbelt harness as well as how to get the seat to move around (very impressive, took me awhile and this little guy is seven!).

It may not be much, but Noah reminded me of when I was a little girl flying out to visit Grandma. I always asked to go see the cockpit (when you could actually do that in flight), and was so excited when I got back to my seat. It was such a treat for me to see that kind of excitement and curiosity in a child.

Of course, being the smartass that I am, when Noah and his Mom were turning to go back to their seats I just couldn’t resist:  “So Noah, have you ever been to a Turkish prison?”  Luckily, the adults all got a laugh from my Airplane reference and the look on Noah’s face was priceless

With unemployment on the horizon and the world economy crashing down around us, I have been attempting to cover my ears (la, la, la) and ignore it a little bit by getting out and having some fun. Now, where is there a better place to ignore life’s difficulties than Disneyland? “The Happiest Place on Earth”- who can argue with that right now? So, in my attempt to stick my head in the sand, I have been to Disneyland three times in the last couple of weeks.

Crazy! I know, however, when you live in Orange County that’s just what you do. Considering that a walk-up one day park hopper to both Disneyland and California Adventure costs $94, it doesn’t sound so crazy that almost everyone who lives here has annual passes. We who live behind the “Orange Curtain” are incessantly mocked for this behavior, rightly so, we are an entire society of Disney-dorks.

So yes, three Disney visits…  This is my favorite time of year at Disneyland. All of the Halloween decorations are up and they have converted the Haunted Mansion into the “Nightmare Before Christmas”. FYI, they did change it up a little bit this year!

The hubby and I have a new favorite at California Adventure- Toy Story Mania. A 3-D ride that is comprised of interractive carnival games. Men tend to do better at this game than women, but no worries, I’m working on it…..hubby be afraid!

Over the past year or so, I have noticed a disturbing trend, and because I don’t have children, I probably don’t understand but will rant anyway :)  The amount of strollers running around the park lately has more than doubled which would be completely acceptable if there were stroller-aged children occupying said strollers. But I swear I have seen ten year-olds wheeling around getting a free ride! Ok, so I’m not very good at guessing a child’s age when they are shoved into one of these things, but seriously, I would think that if the kid is bursting out at the seams, and I keep getting kicked because it is just not possible for them to contort their little bodies into a human ball, that maybe, just maybe, it’s time to make them walk.  Just a thought.

Hopefully, I will make to Disneyland again next week strollers or no strollers