"First Class Travel"


By Kelly Tomlinson



Recently I returned from seeing my son graduate from basic training at Lackland Air Force base in San Antonio, Texas. This was a once in a lifetime experience I was not missing. I surely was not going to let my MS interfere with it in any way. With an outing of this proportion I knew I was going to need to use my wheelchair for the six days we would be gone. Also being away from my business for a week, it was evident that when I returned I would need to hit the ground running, so to speak, to catch back up with my work. I did not have the luxury of spending two weeks in bed recuperating from overtaxing myself for those six days.


This was going to be my first experience traveling with a wheelchair and I had a huge amount of trepidation for what was going to transpire. On occasions when I use my wheelchair, such as going to dinner or to movies in the evening, I keep a running tally in my head of how people act toward me in the wheelchair. So far it is running about 50% of the people being kind and helpful, and the other 50% looking at me as if I am a great imposition on their lives and should not be allowed to be out in their world.


I was especially worried about going through airport security but that turned out to be an unfounded fear. I did not have to go through with the rest of the people, instead I was taken to a separate area to be searched. At LAX a pat down search was done of my wheelchair and I. At San Antonio the gentleman asked me if I could stand, so I stood up and with my arms out and legs spread shoulder width he ran the wand around my body. Neither of these were intimidating encounters.


Because of my compromised immune system I knew we had to fly first class instead of coach thereby having more room between us and our fellow passengers. My wife and I acted in a miserly fashion since the day we found out our son was enlisting in order to save extra money to fly first class. My wife made reservations with the airline and they noted I would be using a wheelchair and said they would have someone there to take care of my needs.


Luckily I have a collapsible lightweight Quickie wheelchair that can be placed in the one wheelchair compartment on an airplane so it would not have to be checked as baggage. First come first serve is the policy the airline had as far as a wheelchair in that compartment. You guessed it, being the obsessive compulsive person that I am and much to my wife’s chagrin, we were always at our gate at least two hours before the flight was going to depart so we could be first.


Since we had to fly through Dallas/Fort Worth we made sure our layover was about 3 hours long thus eliminating the need to rush to make the connection to San Antonio. It was an intelligent choice as we were in one terminal and had to go to another terminal both times. Those of you who have flown through DFW know how big an airport it is. Even though flying to San Antonio and then back home was a full day of travel each way, it was much easier on me as it was a completely stress-free and relaxing day. As I watched other people scurrying by to catch their flights, I thought back to my childhood when I would sit and watch ants rushing madly about on their anthill.


What can I say about the airline personnel, they were all accommodating and it was a joy to fly. They would take me down the ramp to the plane where the flight attendant would show me my seat and put the wheelchair into the compartment. On the four flights we were on, every flight attendant commented how light the wheelchair was. When my wife made reservations she made sure our seats were the closest to the restroom to accommodate my neurogenic bladder which was always the first row of the airplane. Those few steps came in handy especially on the 2½ hour flight from LAX to DFW and likewise on the return. It seems to me that the bathrooms on the airplanes have gotten smaller since the last time I had flown 5 years ago.


Of all of the people who helped me on this trip, I would have to say that my favorite was the woman who assisted me at LAX when we returned. One of the flight attendants had taken my wheelchair off and put it in the ramp area so I could get into the chair there. My wife in the meantime was taking my seat and the foot rests to put on the wheelchair.


By the time she got to the wheelchair there was a little Japanese lady sitting in it. There were several airline wheelchairs lined up against the wall with attendants waiting to take passengers. One of the flight attendants shouted that she didn’t think that was the little lady’s wheelchair, with my wife vocally agreeing and to add to the confusion, the lady did not speak English. All of this was going on while I was still inside the airplane.


My wife, in relating the story to me later, told me the woman who was in charge of my wheelchair just did a very imperceptible movement of the wheelchair to get the lady to stand up. I had to laugh because that Japanese lady could clearly see that my wheelchair was the only one that looked different but she must have thought she was a princess and that was her special wheelchair.


The attendant then took me all the way to the baggage claim, which I might add was probably in record time because we beat our luggage to the baggage carousel and we were the last ones to get off the plane. She must have been a slalom skier because she was weaving in and out of people with precision.


I was impressed she did not hit one person, although I imagine if that happened she would have given the person a dirty look rather than the other way around. On a few occasions when my wife has inadvertently run into a person they always turn around and give me a dirty look as if I was the one who ran into them. I always want to say "get a clue, I’m just sitting in this chair not driving it," but before I can they usually scamper off as if I have the plague.


On this occasion I am happy to say that 100% of all the airline and airport personnel were compassionate and helpful. This was truly a first class travel experience both in the air and on the ground. I will always cherish the memories of this trip.
 

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