Contributing Writer: Mr. Grumpy Pants
Mike decided he should be the resident expert to blog on All Things Annoying. Here’s his first installment. Enjoy!
The world remains semi-staffed and only partially open for business. I shouldn't be surprised but somehow am. Over decades of global pre-Covid travel, I generally found things to work and places to be open and stocked with basics. That's not the case anymore, or at least currently. and it looks like it might be awhile.
The stories, both in the media and anecdotally, are everywhere. If you choose to check a bag, don't plan on seeing it again for a week or two. Order something exotic from Starbucks like a latte with soy and there's a 50-50 chance it won't work - over 3 consecutive tries, they were out of soy milk, then lids, then cups. Attempting to use our very-super-extra-exclusive "Priority Pass" at the Denver airport, our order of a salad and a sandwich took 40 minutes, was messed up twice, and the accompanying coffee (at least it was scalding hot!) was a mess, with the trifecta of no milk/cream available, an improperly sized lid, and no heat sleeve. Not ideal for navigating through 2 airport terminals, laden with bags, in a hurry, but very much how kind of everything is at this unique period of history.
Over roughly the last 7 months I've been able to spend time across Colorado, Utah, southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico, with separate trips to Kansas City, central Mexico, and Iceland. Now a little over a week into our big trip, we've split time in London, York, and Edinburgh. It's been mostly great and I'm grateful for the chance to travel again. But still. The folks working are working hard. There just aren't enough of them and it shows in their reactions. While at a fancy-for-us restaurant ($20+ hamburger level of fancy) in the center of small-but-still-touristy Reykjavik, Iceland, I could see a little part of the waiter's spirit just completely break when we had to send back a nut-laden item Sagan couldn't eat.* Clearly stressed from what was the case there, as everywhere, he is one of hundreds of service-facing staff being stretched thin non-stop.
It's been some time since the news was fixated on people hoarding toilet paper. Someone should let the bathrooms of the world know. For the last 8 days, Story and I have had overlapping colds. Nothing too serious, but not super fun, especially with a runny nose. Over this stretch we've stayed in a tiny but perfectly located apartment in London, a hipster hotel in York, and a cozy old townhouse in Edinburgh. None provided kleenex ("facial tissues"). No napkins. No paper towels. And toilet paper was to be treated with respect, appreciated like a gifted bottle of wine, and limited in use. In Edinburgh, our Airbnb had 1.6 rolls available for our family of 4, staying for 4 days. Yes, we could have gone and purchased some of our own paper products sooner than we ultimately did. But that would have ruined my mental game of "Wipe Your Nose Now or Wipe Your Butt Later?!".Everything above was written as we were departing the UK. Now, a few days into our time in Copenhagen, some things seem to be getting better. At least as far as toilet paper and coffee orders. But, Scandanavians are just better at so many things it'll take a separate post or two to even cover the basics.
* there was no mention of nuts in the item's description and we didn't want Sagan to die.
