The similarities of Flying Standby and Gambling!

Day two of sitting at the airport (trying to fly stand-by) I couldn’t help but notice that there are some similarities between flying standby and gambling. I know…. you are probably thinking what in the SAM HECK (Tiffany’s favorite saying) is she talking about!!…but hear me out. Gambling is a game where risk is the name of the game, and if you are real lucky you can win big (or so I am told since…. I don’t gamble myself). Flying standby is similar to Poker in that…..you sit and wait to see how the “game” will be played out, there are many other people playing this game (other standby’s) that only show their “poker face” holding their “cards”close to their chest not revealing what priority they fly at (whether they are an employee on vacation, a parent or spouse of an employee, or are they someone having the lowest level of priority a ….”buddy pass”). Then when airline ticket agents (the card dealers) start the boarding process ..the game begins! Will you or will you not get on this plane? It actually begins to get really exciting! You see many of the Non-revenue pasengers (players) stand on their feet and start to gather around the mini t.v. screens waiting with baited breath to see if per chance their name pops up on the cleared list. No one will remove their eyes from the screens! All of the sudden you start to notice your heart is starting to pound alittle harder, your hands start to get sweaty, you start to feel the “rush” of possibly winning big! The only thing missing is large bells and whistles that would go off if you really won something big like at a Casino. The agony of defeat and the thrill of victory is all there at the ticket counter as names come and go across the screen. There have been times when I have won big…flying 1st class even!! If I win I am always so grateful and thank the ticket agents profusely…as if they had anything to do with it! Yesterday it was the agony of defeat (12 hours of waiting and no ticket to board, airport food, crowds of people, many gate changes etc..) Today we have only been at it for 5 hours and we have made one of our flights!!! Now we just need to get the second one and we are home free!

oh….it is just about that time…..the ticket agents are getting ready to board another flight!! Here we go….I will keep you all posted……unfortunately my computer is about to die and of course there are no plugs anywhere in site!! So keep checking to see if we “Win” Big!!! oh and if we do could someone ring a bell for me?