I, too, Have Returned to America

I am back in the good old US of A. Interestingly enough, on the same day of my departure, a more high-profile individual also left Thailand from the same airport on the same airline, though bound for L.A. and then Colorado (where he would be facing charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping, and child sexual assault). I've never really been interested in the case or the individual until I compared our Thai Airways flight experiences. Keeping in mind my own criminal record (or lack thereof), let's compare my flight with that of John Karr (JK for short):

Time allotted for check-in

JK: Left Bangkok Immigration Detention Center (IDC) at 3 PM for a 7:10 PM flight.

MG: Left Walking Streets Sunday Market at 6:15 PM for a 6:30 airport departure for a 9 PM flight to Bangkok with a connection at 12:40 AM.

Who wins: Draw. Walking Streets Sunday Market and a ride from a friend trumps IDC and a ride with immigration officials, though JK has a far less complicated departure at a more reasonable hour.

Scheduled Time of Departure vs. Actual Time of Take-off

JK: 7:10 PM, plane left at 8 PM.

MG: 12:40 AM, plane left at 1:20 AM.

Who wins: MG, narrowly, by 10 minutes.

At the Gate

JK: chats amiably with fellow passengers.

MG: exchanges sympathetic half-smiles with exhausted-looking fellow passengers forced to be patted down after surrendering their bottles of water, tubes of chapstick, travel-sized toothpastes, and other harmful liquids.

Who wins: JK.

Pre-Flight Services

JK: a glass of champagne from a cabin attendant; clinked glasses with Mark Spray (investigator with Boulder DA's office), who had orange juice.

MG: A room-temperature bottle of Singha drinking water placed in my seat pocket.

Who wins: Karr; hands down.

Seat buddy

JK: Mr. Spray and two other US officials.

MG: A nice 14-year-old Thai girl returning to her home in America after living in Bangkok for the past three years.

Who wins: Draw. Karr has more of an entourage (good for image), whereas MG has quality (not a lot of unnecessary chatter, friendly). Note- Due to his past, probably good that JK did NOT have MG's seat buddy.

Freedom of Movement

JK: Business Class window seat, no handcuffs.

MG: Economy Class aisle seat, no handcuffs.

Who wins: JK.

Dining

JK: Dinner was served on a starched white tablecloth. Karr started with a pate, then had a green salad with walnut dressing. The main course was fried king prawn with steamed rice and broccoli. Karr drank a beer, crushing the can with his hands when it was empty, then moved on to a glass of French chardonnay with his main course.

MG: Dinner was served on a plastic tray. MG started with a cup of (again) room-temperature pre-poured water, then had a green salad with gloppy Italian dressing from a packet. The main course was stir-fried pork and noodles. MG drank another cup of room-temperature water and placed the cup into the smaller cup intended for coffee or tea when it was empty (as there was not space anywhere else on the plastic tray), then moved onto more room temperature water (which needed to be requested from the exasperated-looking flight attendant) with the main course.

Who wins: JK, obviously.

On-board Demeanor

JK: Relaxed, smiling and chatting nonstop with the U.S. officials next to him -- until television news crews on the flight turned their cameras on. Then he stopped smiling, clutched the armrests of his seat and stared at his lap.

MG: Tired, but chatting occasionally with her seat buddy (in a "Have you seen Akeelah and the Bee?" "No?" "I heard it's good" kind of way) until the flight attendants turned off all of the lights, when she stared into space due to her inability to sleep.

Who wins: JK.

In-flight Entertainment

JK: Mission Impossible III.

MG: The Sentinel, Akeelah and the Bee (wonderful), Stick It (terrible), Inside Man, Law and Order.

Who wins: MG on the surface, though upon further consideration, perhaps JK (less movies = more shut-eye.

Reading

JK: The Secret Garden (wtf?).

MG: The Bangkok Post (which featured a lengthy article on JK).

Who wins: MG (The Secret Garden is a reasonable choice... for an 8 year old).

Flight Payment

JK: You paid for JK's business-class flight.

MG: Columbia paid for MG's economy-class flight (After MG paid dearly for Columbia).

Who wins: Draw. Though you clearly loose.