Fried Flounder Filet and Fries = Fish n’ Chips

It is 2:09 pm at Newark Liberty Airport and after a week of non-stop work, I’ve finally found a moment to write and hopefully find a little piece of mind. As already mentioned in previous posts, ever since I first flew in and out of this city I have developed a personal hate for this airport, which has since surpassed a level beyond that.

Today I decided to take it easy and avoid a third time of fighting to get security clearance so I could make my flight on time and arrived (after dropping off my rental car of course) two and a half hours early (quite literally on the dot), at 1 pm. I thought maybe I would just take a trip to the duty free, get Sam his booze, walk around and write a little before hopping onto my 3:30pm flight. However, when I arrived at the checkout, the clerk flat out said, “Oh you’re on the 3:30? But it’s been cancelled you know—actually just before you arrived. If you had come 15 minutes earlier, I could have tried to get you on the earlier flight that was also delayed. Sorry” Yes, sorry my fucking ass. How on earth was I supposed to know that only 15 minutes before I arrived at the airport my flight was to be cancelled? Am I bloody psychic? The part that gets me the most is that Continental is able to leave for Toronto at 2:55 pm—only 35 minutes before mine.

Even though I’m still 4 hours away from my flight, the only thought that ever calms me down is that I can get away from this place. Okay, so maybe never more than a weekend at a time, but it’s something about New Jersey and America that just doesn’t jive with me. Is it the terrible and poorly designed roads that drive me crazy and nearly get me killed? Yes. Is it the fact that television programming is garbage here and doesn’t offer anyone an unbiased view of the world inside and outside of America? Yes, I believe it’s that too. Is it the continuing mystery as to why I can’t pump my own gas and everything is full service here? Perhaps. But it is because even simple things have to be over complicated with retardedness such as names like fried flounder filet and fries? Oh my goodness, don’t even get me started.

Don’t get me wrong, the people who I’ve met and who I work with are fantastic. But I think it’s just me… I don’t think I could really live here. Save for the exception of San Francisco and New York City, the cultures in other cities I’ve been too are far too different, even for a born and raised Canadian, to be able to cope with the American way of life. After spending a few weeks in a single place, I’ve begun to feel homesick for CBC, ethnic diversity, and an environment that’s a little greener and a lot less industrial.

Lessons learned:
1)When flying out of Newark, it could possibly be better to fly continental
2)When driving in New Jersey you can’t turn anywhere unless it says “All Turns” and then you make these crazy U turns. It is always better to try and find a right turn at a light to go onto a road. Because it’s not easy making a right turn onto a parkway where cars are travelling at 60 miles/hour.
3)It’s good to leave a day before if you have something planned at home. By some unknown mystery or force, the world will never know there has to be cancellations where the weather is perfect from point A to point B, but somehow another airline can still depart on time.