Alaska Airlines, you'll have to pack your bags without me this time.

Nearly every day, I find myself doing quick price checking on Alaska Airlines to see if I can afford to get out of town.  Ninety-nine percent of the time, I confirm discover to my surprise that I can’t afford the flight and I close the search engine.  But that doesn’t stop Alaska Airlines from sending me an e-mail telling me they are ready to go to XXXXXX! (insert placed I just price checked).

The e-mail is chipper and condescending.  That’s great Alaska Airlines that you’re ready to go to Seattle for a mere $800 round trip from Juneau when just two months ago I paid $142 round trip to fly the exact same route on your award-winning airline.

As a lifelong Southeast Alaskan, I have been held hostage by Alaska Airlines for as long as I can remember.  I won’t deny the fact that they offer great customer service, some of the best pilots in the world, and a good mileage awards system.  This is why even when Delta moved in to Southeast Alaska and a price war ensued, I still chose Alaska.  It is a choice I regret now that Delta has pulled their winter service and prices have once again skyrocketed to exorbitant costs.

Let’s do some price checking.  Please note that I searched all of these tickets one-way for July 3 and chose the lowest option available, no matter the number of stops. Let’s face it, when you’re looking to fly cheap, you don’t really care how many stops you have to make.

Seattle to Dallas:

THREE HOURS AND FORTY-FIVE minutes of enjoyable Wi-Fi and USB power at your seat for only $207!  Not to mention the cheese and fruit plate for purchase.  A screaming deal!

Seattle to New York:

A 5-hour direct flight for $301.

Seattle to San Francisco:

$120.  Please note that two hours plus a few minutes is the same flight time as Seattle to Juneau.

And finally, Seattle to Juneau:

Complete with a five-hour layover in Sitka for a grand total of $402.

I understand there are a lot of factors that play into pricing aside from flying time and jet fuel.  But I still call B.S.

For once, I’d like to be able to rely on the fact that I will get a fair priced ticket for my two-hour flight south.  I’m not asking for $142 round-trip tickets, but I am asking for fair.  There has to be a happy medium.  You are our choice Alaska Airlines, even when you are our only choice, we still choose you.  Please, treat Alaskan’s with respect.  After all, you’re named after us.

It's Okay to Disagree--Just Vote.

Like most kids, my girls are sponges who absorb any information thrown their way.  They are extremely gullible convincible and can be talked into most anything.  Lena was once convinced I needed Ginsu knives because the commercial on TV said every kitchen needs them.  Ginsu knives aside, their latest infatuation and opportunity for absorption is the election of our new mayor.

Sadly, our former mayor passed away only a few months into office, creating an unexpected scramble to fill the mayoral seat.  I liked our former mayor.  We used to work in the same building and we’d talk about fishing and politics.  He’d smiled at my then baby and toddler and herd them back to my office when they escaped down the hall.  I was really excited to see what he would do as leader of our capital city, and his death was extremely sad and unfortunate.  I don’t want to be voting for a mayor, because I already voted for the candidate I wanted.

Without reading any information on either of the new candidates, my vote was swayed by the majority of my like-minded friends who almost unanimously chose the same candidate.  Pretty soon, this candidate’s name was plastered in my world and I barely knew the other candidate existed.  Yard signs went up, fundraisers were hosted, the former mayor’s son made a public endorsement, and my Facebook newsfeed was scattered with endorsement for this candidate.  I still knew nothing about the candidate except all my friends wanted her to win—and so did my children.  Say what?  How does a six year old and eight year old know who they want to be mayor?  Easy, they absorb it from their surroundings.  Apparently, their step-grandparents are big fans of this candidate and held a fundraiser which my kids attended.  I’ve been hearing from my girls non-stop that I should vote for this candidate because that’s who they are voting for (if they could vote).

Yesterday, before driving over the Douglas Bridge, the girls and I drove through a lively intersection overflowing with supporters for both candidates waving and holding signs encouraging horn-honking and interaction.  Truthfully, this has always made me uncomfortable.  Aside from the fact there are enough distractions while driving, I loathe getting stuck in the intersection and being forced to awkwardly make eye-contact with someone while I’m busting out Adele’s “Hello.”  I usually do my best to stare straight ahead and restrain myself from flipping them the bird because I know they are probably really nice people, but right at that moment, I just find them annoying.  Their signs are not going to help me choose a candidate, so for me; they may as well not be there.  My girls however think it’s awesome, so I find myself shrinking lower into my seat as they wave to the supporters and even blow them kisses (okay, so they blew one kiss, to their step-grandfather, but still, kisses were blown and not by me). 

Noticing I was not participating in the hoopla, my girls once again told me who they were voting for and told me they were glad that even though our family is divided, we are all voting for the same person.  This is where I put on the brakes, figuratively speaking.  I was quick to inform them that they had no idea who I was voting, which left them speechless.  Stunned, Lena asked me who I was voting for.  I told her the truth: I wasn’t sure.  Yes, it was less than 24 hours until Election Day, but I still hadn’t done my research.  I asked them why they wanted their choice to win and why they were voting for her.  They said they didn’t know and that they are only voting for her because that’s who their dad, step-mom, and step-grandparents are voting for.  I pushed them harder and asked them if they knew the candidate’s stance on anything.  After explaining to them what “stance” meant, they still couldn’t tell me anything.  I told them that I planned on doing some reading and research that evening to get some facts about each candidate before making my decision.  Lena amazed me by asking if I could share those facts with them so they could decide who they wanted to vote for. I told her that was an excellent idea and I was proud of her for not feeling she needed to vote for who her parents want to win.  I then blew the cover off the whole discussion by admitting that the majority of the time, I don’t vote the same way as my parents! (Gasp!) Aurelia was quick to pipe in “and they still love you.”  Yes, they do still love me.  It may have been questionable during the 2008 presidential election whether I’d ever be allowed back in my parent’s house, but we all got over it and at the end of the day, we still love each other, no matter our political differences.

Rocking the "I Voted" Sticker

Last night, as I lay in bed sandwiched between my girls, I read some stats on the candidates and came up with my decision.  It doesn’t matter who I chose because at the end of the day, I know I made the right decision, and that decision is to just get out and vote—no matter who you choose. 

The bottom line is, we are all different and have different beliefs, but I love you just the same. 

PS- There’s always this option: