Life in the Fast Lane
Today I am no longer a Virgin virgin. And while it didn't exactly feel great, it didn't hurt either. And I'm pretty sure, in time, I'll like it, so I'll probably do it again.
That's right, I was one of the first few thousand people to fly fledgling Virgin America cross-country. There weren't enough gates at JFK, so after being escorted through the fast lane — a rather strange experience in itself, getting handed off from person to person — I was loaded onto a shuttle and driven out to the plane parked in the middle of the tarmac.
My fellow travelers were all young or young looking hipsters. I found myself drawing myself to my full height and sporting an air of detached, bored amusement just to fit in.
But once I got on the plane, all airs were off. What I really wanted to do was play with all the features.
The plane's interior is a study in discotheque that's already dated itself to the early '00s. I hoped to have control over the lighting, but no such luck. Then I hoped the mood lighting would change occasionally, but it stayed purple overhead with bands of red above the windows the entire time.
The charcoal gray leather seats in coach didn't have as many adjustable parts as the first-class chairs. They reminded me a bit of the leather seats on Midwest Airlines flights, though they were definitely newer.
A steady Euro-ambient soundtrack keeps you company in the bathroom. Snack service is a little chaotic during initial go-round, but convenient once the cart is reparked in the galley.
As yet, there's no Internet access, something people groused about before discovering they could get drinks from the galley just by touching the screen in front of each seat. Tap a few times, slide a credit card underneath and a black-uniformed flight attendant stomps up and hands you your order.
Cheap earbuds are free at the gate, in case you forgot to bring your Bose QuietComfort headphones. You can listen to a huge catalog of Virgin artists (talk about vertical integration).
Several cable channels are available, and at some point the airline will offer pay-per-view movies. The monitor also has simple video games and several different chat rooms.
Apparently I was the only geek on the plane — no one else was on chat so I spent a good hour or so playing a version of Text Twist before whipping out my iBook.
A Google map showed the journey's progress. It's not quite real-time information, but it's pretty close.
My plane touched down in L.A. about 5.5 hours after takeoff. Even at the late hour, there was a crush of people waiting to register for their rental cars.
The Googie era Encounter theme restaurant, seen at left, was enclosed in crazy scaffolding made necessary after a massive chunk from one of the arch legs had fallen off several months before. I wish I'd taken a photo.
I had to call the friend I was staying with for directions, even though once upon a time, I knew the route like the back of my hand.
I've been gone almost nine months now, but the time has flown. Though it felt a little strange to be back in a place where subtle changes were all around me, it was good to be in and among the familiar too.
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