Journey To KC

Posted: June 12th, 2009 | Author: miconian | Filed under: Miconian At Large | Tags: Bristol, Chipotle, Clear Card, flying, kansas city, Kindle | Comments

After making plans and then cancelling them, I suddenly decided to return to KC for my 20th high school reunion. I spent a lot of money on the ticket, so I attempted to compensate by taking the subway to JFK airport. It didn’t take nearly as long as I expected. On the tram during the final leg of the journey, I found myself surrounded by a group of licentious individuals. Notice the girl getting high off a chemical in her scarf (clever way to get it through airport security). And the guy in the white shirt is clearly in the middle of a sophisticated dance move.

airport tram

Months ago, I signed up for Clear, the company (?) that verifies in advance you’re not a terrorist, and then helps you get through airport security lines faster. I hadn’t completed my enrollment, the last part of which has to be done in person. Seeing a long security line right next to a Clear station, and worrying I was cutting it close to departure time, I asked the Clear team if they could just finish my enrollment right then and there. They said they could.

clear one

I had to show them both my passport and state ID. They kept referring to my state ID as my driver’s license. But I don’t have a driver’s license. There is an exciting story about why that is, which I will save for another post.

I had to go through an elaborate procedure that involved scanning my fingerprints, separately and together.

clear two

There was also a rentinal scan involved, but despite multiple tries, we couldn’t get it to work with my eyes. I literally can’t open my eyes wide enough for it to work. All my fantasies of futuristic espionage, dashed.

When the procedure was done, they told me that I’d receive my card in about two weeks. And then I had to go through normal security like everyone else. Damn it!

I took some photos of the clouds from inside the plane…

clouds from the plane

And here’s the girl who sat across the aisle from me, showing me her wedding ring and her Kindle DX at the same time. You’ve got to admire the economy of language going on here.

After we landed, I went to dinner with my dad at Bristol, in the newly gentrified area of downtown KC known as the Power and Light District. Bristol is a really nice seafood place. Dad and I discovered that we both enjoy Macellan 12.

Near Bristol was the most palatial Chipotle I’ve ever seen. What does this mean? Is Chipotle experimenting with a different image in Kansas City, or was real estate really so much cheaper that they could afford to do this? Maybe some really ambitious franchise owner?

big chipotle