Being Takin' Cared in Business!

This was so awesome that it deserves it's own post. Check it.

So I'm waiting at the airport in Tokyo to board the plane to London and I get called to the front desk. I wearily approach the desk and the ANA woman politely informs me that they have to change my seat. A small part of me gets furious because I had picked my seat online months ago, and I had a seat with plenty of leg room. As I begin to sassily ask her why, she hands me my new ticket and points out the block letters "BUSINESS CLASS". "I hope this is ok." She says to me with a smirk. I'm so speechless, the only thing I can do is nod my head and back away slowly, clutching my golden ticket to Charlie's factory. I line up with the common folk for economy, uncertain of where my perks come in. As I'm walking down the long narrow hall that leads to the plane, I'm trying to think of what is great about business class- more leg room? better food? only 2 seats to a row instead of 3? Then I board the plane and pass by the individual homes that 1st class gets, and go right pass business class seating thinking that it was way too luxurious for me. A flight attendant asks me for my ticket and she chuckles while re-directing me toward the front of the plane. My mouth literally dropped when I saw my seat. It looked like a large armchair. I had 3 window to myself and of course not to mention a partition which created my own little space which gave me the luxury of not fighting with my neighbour for armrest space. I sat down, my mouth still opened wide, as a flight attendant came my way to introduce herself and tell me that she was there for anything I needed. I nodded slowly, still incredibly speechless. I looked around---I was the youngest person in there by about 20 years. As I try to take everything in, my flight attendant (yes, MY) comes back with a glass of champagne, "Miss Cabelli, would you like some champagne?" well well "Yes, please." The perks did not stop there of course, I got a private menu with luxury items such as foie gras and veal on it, along with scallop pottage and 5 different kinds of fresh bread. My flight attendant told me to order what I wanted when I wanted. I turned the page of the menu to find about 40 different kinds of wine, sake and spritzers. My mouth dropped once more. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. I sat back (literally, the chair reclined by remote control), popped up the tele to watch some movies and even put up the lazy boy foot rest. "This is the life" I thought to myself. Then, it happens, I see it, and there's no mistaking it...there's a button on my recliner control that says BED. Huh? I press it. And yes, the chair folds back down and under to lie straight. a BED. In an AIRPLANE. And it's MINE! I kept taking pictures of everything, the lady sitting next to me might have been Judy Dench, I dunno, but whoever she was she definitely thought I was either famous or crazy. My 12 hour flight from japan to england seemed to pass in minutes. I kept thinking to myself that they'd have to pry my butt out of my seat, that there was no way I was getting off voluntarily. But like all good things, it came to an end. I skipped off the plane without the usual dark circles under my eyes and crick in my neck, and rather had a bushy tail and a light glow.

THE END.

NOT

I get to London airport after 10 days of phenomenal fun in Ireland (detailed blog to follow soon), heading back to tokyo. As I approach the desk to check in, an ANA representative comes up to me asking me "How badly do you need to get to Tokyo today?", taken by surprise, I reply "Depends." She continues to explain to me that they've overbooked the flight and are looking for people to fly standby. If I fly standby, as a thank you, I can wait in their luxury lounge until the flight leaves. If I get on the plane, then I'll fly in my regular economy class, but if there's not enough space, they'll put me up in a hotel, pay for my transport to and from said hotel, pay for my 3 meals until the next flight AND I get to fly business class to tokyo. That's not all folks, I'd also get the equivalent to about 700 Canadian dollars. "Sign me up!". I hand over my luggage and head to the lounge. This lounge is no regular lounge, it's got the big comfy chairs, sure, but it also has a self-serve bar and snack bar. I'm in heaven. I sit around reading complimentary magazines waiting to hear if I get this sweet deal or get sent home packing in economy with the regular folk. Then a woman approaches me..."Ms. Cabelli, thank you for helping us out, however we have enough room for you to fly home today." Oh great, I guess my luck had to run out eventually...Then she hands me my flight ticket. And there it is, in unmistakable block letters BUSINESS CLASS. Someone is looking down on me from up high I think. I'm never removing the horseshoe up my butt. As I make my way to the gate, every ANA staff member who sees me, calls me by name and thanks me for my cooperation. It creeps me out, sure, but the japanese people around me now are convinced I'm famous. I get asked to give a few autographs and take a few pictures. I don't deny a thing. A girl's got to give her fans the attention they deserve.