Gimme a Break!

Nothing awakens one's pet peeves like a solid month of business travel — living out of a suitcase and dining everywhere from a Starbucks between flights to a five-star restaurant in a thriving metropolis.

The peeves start almost immediately upon arrival at the airport. The problem? Infrequent flyers, the majority of whom seem to be right in front of me and are absolutely clueless about the regulations regarding anything and everything from proper carriage of liquids and gels, to removal of at least one layer of clothing — not including shoes and sneakers, which are counted separately. To those people, I say: "Get with the program already!"

To airport officials, I say: "How about an express line — like the 10-items-or-less checkout lines in supermarkets — for the road warriors and travel vets?"

Next up in the peeve department: hotel check-in. Why am I asked nine times out of 10, what type of room I would prefer? Especially when weeks — sometimes months —– prior I completed an obligatory pre-registration that included my room preference. My preferences take years, not days, to develop. Perhaps hotel personnel might ask instead if anything has changed since I pre-registered — like I started smoking to reduce the stress of travel.

Of course, my hotel room is never ready when I arrive — but I've been over that for some time. What I'm not over is hotel restaurants closing in the early afternoon, right when most guests are arriving!

Attention hotels: We're not being fed on airplanes anymore; we arrive hungry. And while hotels do boast of 24-hour room service as one of their guest services, what good is it when a guest doesn't even have a room?

One of my biggest pet peeves is the environmentally friendly hotel; you know, the one that asks guests to conserve by using the same towels and sheets for more than one day. They even provide a card guests can leave on a pillow to alert the housekeeping staff that no new sheets are required. In addition, there are instructions about where to place towels if you're willing to use the same towels for another day.

Now, don't get me wrong: Such conservation steps are right up this (tree-hugging) guest's alley! I definitely want to help preserve the environment for future generations — especially since I have future generations of my own to give it to. But why, oh why, is it that even when I follow directions, my used towels are snatched by conservation-challenged housekeeping staff? Why are there new sheets on my bed every night?

My last peeve? People who think my job is glamorous because I get to travel so much. If only they knew….