Okaaay...

Alaska Airlines seats passengers in the following order:

1) elderly & disabled

2) people with children

3) business class

4) premier class

5) MVP and Partnership Airlines first class

6) row 6 (???!!)

7) rows 15 and higher

8) everyone else (i.e. me: row 12, seat C)

they will not let you cut ahead of anyone. if, for example, you are MVP class, you will be clowned loudly if you try to get on the plane when they call for Premier Class to board. after row six was announced, i just started laughing hysterically and couldn't stop. people were looking at me and i was like (to myself, because i'm only crazy in extreme circumstances) did they just say ROW SIX COULD BOARD? ROW SIX? WHAT THE HELL IS ROW SIX? DID THEY PAY MORE MONEY? ARE THEY MORE SPECIAL THAN THE REST OF US? ARE THEY BETTER CITIZENS, DO THEY REFRAIN FROM DRINKING AND CAROUSING?????? DID THEY MAKE THEIR RESERVATIONS FIVE YEARS IN ADVANCE?? WHAT THE HELL?

i read the prodigal summer while waiting. the whole thing. for real. later i learned that row six was the exit row. whatever dude. the only reason i flew alaska anyway was because jetblue, who does not enforce a class system for boarding, doesn't fly phoenix to seattle...more later about ARCOSANTI, my new favorite desert oaisis...cbell