Best of Business Travel & a Note on Nuts

I don't have many opportunities to do it anymore. But it used to be more of a chore than an opportunity. Perhaps that's why today's flight was one of the best I've had, made sweeter by the fact that I no longer live on the road, but I still remember how to navigate it.

I flew, for the first time, Jet Blue. I fully understand the Jet Blue mania now. They have paired efficiency with customer service. Some airlines removed blankets and pillows, food, and increased seating to save money. Jet Blue uses some novel ways to achieve the same effect, without the customer dissatisfaction. For example, they collect all trash and headphones prior to landing, to save time on plane cleanup. They also deplane from both ends, increasing the speed at which passengers can get on with their lives, as well as saving money (less time on the ground means more $$$). I was impressed with what they did have - two free snacks and plenty of beverages, DirectTV from my seat, and big comfy seats with lots of legroom. It was as nice as being in USAir's first class! Nothing looked broken or overused, always a worrier (what else is broken on the plane?). And the restrooms were impeccably clean! I had one of my best flights ever, including watching the Top Design marathon for the entire six hours of flight-time.

Then I arrived at my Marriott, and got my free Starbucks beverage in exchange for being a valued Marriott Rewards Silver Elite member! Yes, that's what I got out of the long and painful assignment where I lived out of a Residence Inn for four months. I get to be "elite" when I show up at a Marriott. Gotta admit - I do enjoy the way Marriott does their points program. They always make you feel special, and it's really easy to use your rewards. I am using mine this summer at a posh hotel in Miraflores, Peru.

Now I'm all showered and waiting for my caesar salad and glass of pinot grigio to arrive. Ahhh, refreshing! It helps that all I have to do tomorrow is give an hour-long presentation on an application that I am deeply familiar and extremely proud of! This is what Business Travel ought to feel like!

Now a funny little thing that happened on the flight. Assuming that we'd have no snacks, I purchased a bag of cashew nuts to tide me over on this dinner-time flight. With that and a fruit smoothie, I got a receipt for 10$! Shortly before boarding, there is an announcment - a passenger with an extremely sensitive nut allergy will be on the flight, so please do not take any nut-containing products onto the flight! Well, it all seemed a bit unreasonable to me, worrying that my hard-bought nuts will be confiscated. After all, I'm extremely allergic to dogs and yet dogs are often on the same plane as me. Besides, I am wearing a thin layer of Brazil Nut body butter on my skin, as always. I could just rub up against this guy and put him into anaphalactic shock!

I keep the nuts in my bag and just resolve not to open them in-flight. I come to my seat and find myself in a window, next to one of the most oblivious co-passengers I've ever seen. I won't go into the other reasons why, but let's just say - the first thing I see him do as he settles in is put a honkin' sack of nuts in the seatback pocket.

"Excuse me, are those your nuts?", I inquired.

"Yeaaaahh," he drawled back.

I informed him of the announcement and that I was in fact glad to see his nuts because I have a large bag of nuts myself, and was glad I am not seated next to said allergic passenger. The announcement was again repeated over air, several times, reminding us not to eat nuts. Of course, there are nut byproducts in all sorts of things.

I would love to have a nice salty cashew right now, even more so now that they are haram, but I keep thinking if I even go so far as to open my bag, a light will go on over my seat announcing "Emergency! Emergency! Nut-eater in 19F!"

Now, the man next to me actually packed a full-size cobb salad and a pizza, on top of these nuts. He was chowing down, including on his nuts! I surreptitiously reached into my bag and grabbed a single nut from my own bag, clutching it tightly and slipping it into my mouth as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, the smell of peanuts wafts over as my seatmate crunches away. I wondered whether the allergic passenger would go into shock, and wouldn't we feel awful? Of course, I reasoned I could blame it on the guy next to me since I took care to hide mine.