Being an airline employee, I have the truly great benefit of being able to fly pretty much anywhere I want to. Which, given the current state of gas prices, (combined with my extreme cheapness), means I'm willing to fly from Phoenix to Tucson and back.
That I even have this option is fantastic...but it does have it's drawbacks. As I wrote this I was sitting in a broken airplane on the tarmac in Tucson, waiting to find out if the "fault code" that our #2 engine was giving the pilots was something that could be more or less ignored until we got to Phoenix. Yeah, that idea scares me as much as it would any of you, believe me. But, given that I was flying as a guest on another airline, I don't feel like I have the right to bitch.
Well, it turned out that the broken engine on the plane was more of an issue than was originally thought. Moments after I wrote the last paragraph, all of the passengers on said aircraft were uncerimoniously herded back out into the main terminal, where our fate would be determined by one of the customer service folk...who were suddenly inundated with an angry mob who had places to be.
And it's here that I started to contemplate the true nature of my situation. To save money, I had decided to fly to Tucson and back...but it wound up costing me far more in time. So I began to wonder...which, ultimately, is more important? Time or money?
In flying, I saved a good $40 in gas...but spent a good 4 or 5 hours round trip more than I otherwise might have. Now, it was my day off...and I didn't have a lot on my plate...but would the extra few hours spent with my family and friends have been worth that $40? Not to mention the saved frustration of dealing with airplane delays? After all, if time is money, then what's money worth?
Or, more to the point, what are those extra hours and frustration in dealing with the usual hassles of flying (security, etc) worth in a monetary value? So I guess my question is this...would you have flown (provided it was free, but possibly riddled with hassles) or driven (and spent the $40)?
Is green supposed to be for envy, greed, or lust?
Or all three?
About Me
- Frank
- Tucson, AZ, United States
- Just your average blue collar-type fella, who likes: lifting heavy stuff repeatedly and putting it back down again (at home AND at work), taking pictures of stuff (35mm and digital), exploring any kind of new music I can find (especially if it's indie-rock oriented), movies ("action" type preferred, yes THAT kind of "action" too), hiking and outdoorsy-ish stuff (I like sunburn and bug bits, call me crazy), perusing the internet for pictures of big, beefy, hairy, tattooed guys to share with anyone who'll read this here blog (cause I think we've all seen enough twink flesh to last a lifetime), cars, motorcycles, trucks (or anything that looks neat or moves fast that people can ride in or on), gadgets of pretty much any kind (especially if it should help to facilitate any of the above interests), and using WAY too many parentheses (in case you hadn't noticed).
4 comments:
Equate it with your salary, but also factor in safety and traffic. Your issue is because the close proximity of Tucson and Phoenix to each other. Make your decision easier by moving to Alaska.
Oh wait. Don't move to Alaska. It will be at least 30 years before it is as warm as Tucson. Maybe NYC?
Hmmm....trying to plus our fair city there, are we? ;) I've still never even BEEN to NYC, unfortunately. :( I think I need a good reason to visit! ;)
Don't call me a snob or anything but if I can't fly there I won't go - I HATE being packed up in a car for long periods of time.
I myself would have just given up and gone home and tried on my next day off!
However, for me to fly back and visit family its a 4 hour flight so driving is just not an option. I don't have a week to drive across the country.
However, if I had just been flying to Montreal or Ottawa (usually just 40-50 minute) flights I still would have saved time because the train takes about 5 hours and there is no way I am taking a bus!
But really I am not a snob! Really!
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