It Just Get's Worse...

OH what would I possibly write about without the incompetence of man? Although, having read this my husband was of the opinion that I was partially to blame, what do you think? Read on, and let me know... My departure from the lovely Island of Grenada yesterday was somewhat bittersweet, I hated to leave, but I needed a break from all the back breaking work and I really missed my family, and my little Nicho-San. So, even though leaving was sad I couldn't wait to get home. The people on this little Island really are so helpful, friendly and happy. Even the staff at the airport, and that's unusual, in my experience airport staff in general are not very friendly or helpful. Anyone who has read my blogs on airline travel will be all too familiar with my thoughts regarding this industry. Coming home yesterday did nothing to improve my opinion of the airline industry and their general incompetence and bad management. The flight from Grenada was on time and even I could find nothing to complain about, well that is until I arrived in Miami. This is not one of my favorite airports, I've had so many bad experiences here over the years I truly hate the place, sadly it can't easily be avoided when one is traveling to the Caribbean from Atlanta. Upon my arrival in Miami, I had the usual 6 mile hike along endless corridors, up and down escalators more stairs, more corridors and eventually the immigration. The lines have now been split into 3 sections, Citizens, Residents and Visitors. My line (residents) was the shortest and I was through fairly quickly, but then I had to collect my checked bags to go through customs. Having brought half the contents of the boat back with me my bags weighed exactly 50 pounds each, and my 2 carry-on bags were also very heavy. We were directed to conveyor belt 8 to collect our bags. After a 25 minute wait one of the disgruntled passengers in the crowd shouted "Grenada bags are on belt 7." So all 350 people pushed and shoved their way over to belt 7. After another 10 minute wait we were directed to belt 5 and by a passenger, not a member of staff. The staff could really care less. 'Customer Service' not something they bother about... One thing that REALLY, REALLY, REALLY pisses me off in baggage claim is the way people all crowd around right up to the edge of the belt, this way no one can see the bags coming and everyone has to push and shove in order to grab their bags off the belt, after they've watched it go around 2 or 3 times because they were unable to reach it through the mass of bodies. If everyone stood back about 4 feet everyone could see the bags coming, and just step forward and pull their bag off with ease and without knocking people over, or injuring small children, whose stupid parents have let them stand right by the belt in everyone's way… Because we were in Miami, where in my opinion bad management and disorganization should win prizes, they had cordoned off one full side of the belt, so all 350 people were crowded onto one side. People had already been waiting over 30 minutes and tempers were rising, it was getting ugly. There was one woman with a husband two children and pushchair all lined up lengthways right alongside the belt, taking up about 10 feet of precious space. Where was her intelligence? Seriously, why not stand out of the way with the children and the pushchair, let the husband get the bags and keep the children from getting trampled in the stampeed. But no, the husband grabbed the bags and the wife lined them all up right alongside the belt just as if they were the only people there! I can only assume she was dim witted, well either that or she was just plain ignorant. Anyway it pissed me off. When my bags came around I had to climb over her bags to try to grab mine, I knocked the stupid barrier over and one of the airport staff told me to go around the other side. I yelled loudly at him over the crowd "there's no room around the other side, I can't reach it around there, if you had any intelligence you'd remove the taped barrier and let people get their bags." He told me again to go around the other side and I told him to "get lost." Ignoring him I pulled my bag's off the belt knocked the barrier completly over, and the stupid women's line of bags, and then struggled to put my 2 heavy carryon bags over my shoulder and drag 100 pounds in luggage through the long line of people waiting to go through customs, where they have to re-check their bags and get to their connecting flight gate. In just about every other airport I've ever been through cart's are provided for people having to collect and re-check their bags, but not in Miami, here you have to pay $5. The disorganization with the staff at the gate was no better than the idiot in the baggage claim. We were all herded like cattle through the gate, with 2 planes boarding at the same time. I handed my boarding pass to the desk clerk and was directed to follow the line of people. As I made my way along the corridor towards the plane another attendant took my boarding pass, looked at it and directed me to the plane, I handed one of my carry on bags to the baggage handler at the foot of the steps, they took it and placed it with all the others. When I boarded the plane I was handed a form to fill in, I took it and made my way to my seat, I was about to sit down when I looked at the form and wondered what it was for, as I had just cleared customs and immigration. I called back to the flight attendant "what's this form for?" He replied that I needed it for entry into the Bahama's! "f*@#*^%$#@" WHAT??? "I'm going to Atlanta" I yelled back. "Not on this plane you're not." He laughed, he actually laughed! I was not amused that he found it funny. So then I had to make my way back down the isle past the line of people cramming onto the plane, back down the steps find my bag and make my way across the tarmac with everyone yelling at me, to find the plane I should have been on… I'm not going to elaborate on my opinion of the idiot who directed me to the "WRONG PLANE" because he obviously couldn't read… Such are the joys of airline travel today! Had I not been given a customs form I could be in the Bahamas right now, probably sleeping in the terminal like Tom Hanks in the movie of the same name!