Have unruly airline passengers become more common? It seems like there’s a new video every week of someone having a meltdown on JetBlue. Normally I ignore these videos to maintain my sanity, but the most recent viral sensation is near and dear to my heart. She’s a 32 year-old from New York City, and she happens to be my former roommate. I’ll withhold her name to spare her even more embarrassment, but I’ll just leave this here: We had a crazy chick get thrown off our plane in Fort Lauderdale.

If you clicked the link, skip to the next paragraph. If you didn’t, I’ll summarize:

My ex-roommate (whom I’ll refer to as “V” from here on out) refused to sit next to a 3-year-old on her flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Las Vegas because she had been “drinking all day.” *Tip: If you can’t handle your liquor, drinking all day before boarding a plane is a bad idea.* She switched to a seat in a different row without permission and was asked to leave. V then hurled profanities at no one in particular and dared the other passengers to make her go viral. Before exiting the plane, she promised the other passengers that she would “be there (Vegas) in an hour.”

The story could have ended there if V had just gotten a hotel room, slept it off, and caught a flight to Vegas the next day. But what isn’t on the video is V hitting an employee over the head when she tried to get back on the plane. When the police arrived, she spat at them and kicked them. The only way to subdue her was to force her into a wheelchair with leg restraints.

The irony: The 3-year-old was probably better behaved.

The world will likely forget about V’s tirade by next week, but the video is immortalized on the Internet for future employers and potential dates to discover. Which leads me to my next question: Why is it a reflex for some people to reach for their phones at the first sign of a stranger’s meltdown, instead of minding their own business? And why post it on social media? The man recording V’s outburst is a radio station manager who tweeted the video to his 104,000 followers. That’s right: V had the misfortune of sitting in a row across from a radio show host. He has a platform for broadcasting this event over the Internet AND the air waves.

And before you accuse me of being a hypocrite for providing the link to the video in this post:

1) I didn’t tell you to click it.

2) No one reads this blog anyway.

A Google search will render a treasure trove of unruly airline passenger gold. But how many of these videos record everything that happened? How much of what is said in the video out of context? Is it ethical, moral, or legal to record someone without their consent?

V’s behavior was repulsive and inexcusable, and I’ll admit that I’ve been indulging in a little schadenfreude ever since this story “coincidentally” appeared in my Google News feed. However, I haven’t spoken to her in 8 years. I have no idea what has gone on in her life since she moved out in 2011. Maybe she had a break-up, a death in the family, or she failed one of her graduate school classes. Maybe life really wanted to kick her in the ass and all of these things happened at once. And all she wanted to do was fly to Vegas without a toddler seated next to her so she could meet the Backstreet Boys.

What if these videos are showing good people at their worst? Any one of these passenger freak-out videos could be isolated incidents. Is it worth potentially ruining someone’s life over 2 minutes of possibly out-of-character behavior?

Mr. Radio Station Manager said on his Twitter page that he hopes V gets help. But she wouldn’t need it quite as badly if he hadn’t tweeted the video in the first place.

It was our first night in Isle of Skye when I finally ordered whisky in Scotland. My friends and I were at one of two hotel bars within short walking distance of our B&B, and I decided that this would be the place to try some authentic Isle of Skye whisky. We had spent the first four days of our trip in Edinburgh, which to my surprise, has a more prominent gin scene (not that there isn’t plenty of whisky to go around too). The Highlands region is where much of Scotland’s whisky is produced, and I wanted to order my first glass at the source.

Ordering whisky in Scotland was a little intimidating, as I rarely drink it at home in the United States. But I trusted the bartender to steer me in the right direction. The blonde, heavy eye-linered young lassie would surely take pity on a naive American.

My sob story went like this:

Me: “I don’t drink a lot of whisky, but I’d like to try something made right here in the Isle of Skye. I don’t always like the taste, so…could I try maybe a whisky with water?”

The bartender’s dubious expression said it all: “You want it with water?!”

At that moment, I wished I had just ordered a beer.

“How do people usually order it?” I asked tentatively.

“Neat or on the rocks.”

I considered pointing out to her that ice is frozen water but ordered an Isle of Skye ale instead. I felt more in my element drinking beer, and I really enjoyed these smooth and very drinkable ales!

I may not have gotten my first dram of whisky that night, but I knew that in two days, our Highlands tour would be heading to the Praban na Linne distillery for a whisky tasting anyway. There, I would hopefully encounter someone who wouldn’t judge me so harshly!

The purpose of this anecdote is not to portray Scots as rude. They’re not. But it does reflect my naivete of what was considered acceptable in a different country,  if only because I didn’t know how to order their liquor. Before this trip I didn’t know what to expect. I knew it wouldn’t be a major culture shock, but the days leading up to my flight out of JFK in New York felt like I was preparing to fly into a black hole. Scotland is the first European country I have ever visited, so I had no frame of reference.

Here’s a rough list of the differences I noticed between Scotland and the United States:

1. The accent
2. The currency
3. Occasionally needing to pay a small fee to use the public bathrooms
4. Calling bathrooms “toilets”
5. Haggis

All jokes aside, I was most taken aback by Edinburgh’s regal beauty and the Highlands’ rolling countryside. The photos don’t quite do them justice:

The advantage to intermittent rain showers: a rainbow over Princes Street, Edinburgh.

Speaking of rainbows, this row of colorful buildings is on Victoria Street in Edinburgh.

The view of the city from the top of Arthur’s Seat.

Eilean Donan Castle, on the way up to Skye.

If you dip your face in the Sligachen River for 7 seconds, you’ll look younger.  

Just one of the views as we drove through Skye.

Skye from another angle.

View from the distillery we visited, with a lighthouse in the background.

Me admiring the view (and the sheep) from Dun Beag Broch, a small fort in Skye.

Scotland certainly won’t be my last European country. I had barely exited the plane before I started thinking about my next trip. I have my heart set on Ireland for obvious reasons, but I wouldn’t be opposed to a white sandy beach in Greece either. Stay tuned.

“You’re going to want to move here.”

I was asking my cousin for recommendations on things to do during my upcoming trip to Austin, Texas. My cousin, who was born and raised in Massachusetts, had moved to the Texas capital about two years prior. According to her, Austin was like an adult playground; it’s where the Peter Pans of modern America went to never grow up. Plus Austin had been getting a lot of press at this time for its affordability and job opportunities. Apparently, millennials were flocking to this town, and I couldn’t wait to see it for myself.

I visited this quirky city in May 2015, and it lives by its motto: Keep Austin Weird. Austin IS weird, but great. Since this trip was almost a year ago, I feel incapable of describing the city as vividly as it deserves. Therefore, I’ll let the photos speak for themselves:

Graffiti is painted on random walls throughout the city…

…including this one: the famous “i love you so much” graffiti on South Congress St. And while we’re on the topic of graffiti…

Graffiti Park at Castle Hills in Austin offers an example of the city’s eccentric vibe. Pick up a can of spray paint and get to work!

Food trucks are a staple in Austin, and there are some excellent ones. Torchy’s Tacos (above), la Barbecue, and:

Gourdough’s. This is a DOUGHNUT food truck. I was fortunate enough to have the above cinnamon sugar godly creation grace my taste buds. With the honey butter dip poured on top, it is melt-in-your-mouth delicious.

Meanwhile, on South Congress St (you may hear it referred to as Soco if you visit).

At least Austin has a sense of humor!

If you’ve ever wanted to learn the Texas two-step, I highly recommend White House Tavern. They hold lessons, and afterward you get to show off your moves to the tune of a live band! My fellow women, expect men to politely ask you to dance–no strings attached. This isn’t the usual bump and grind.

We did get a little bit of culture and history while in Austin. This is the Texas Senate.

You don’t know how badly I wanted to join those kayakers.

Downtown.

These pictures don’t do the city justice or adequately represent what the city has to offer. I encourage you to do some research and check out Austin for yourself. It is surely one of a kind, and it is beautifully weird.