The legend of Pasco El Paso

A hilarious scene at the Denver airport yesterday.

I was flying from Washington, D.C., to Pasco, Washington, via a connecting flight in Denver.

After having to walk past the gate for Las Vegas (I was tempted to change plans, believe me), I waited at Denver’s B80 gate for my flight to Pasco. The flight was delayed less than 30 minutes, but the delay bumped it up against the next flight from that gate, to El Paso.

So we had people going to Pasco and El Paso at the same gate, with similar departure times. When they announced boarding for Pasco, every person in the waiting area got in line – 100 people for a regional jet that holds 50 – because Pasco and El Paso sound exactly the same on the airport’s PA system (Denver has the model that translates English into a sound resembling the voice of Charlie Brown’s teacher).

It was awesome to watch a third grade Silly Nilly riddle come to life:

Q: How do you keep 10 airline employees occupied and 100 airline passengers confused at the same time?
A: Pasco El Paso.

The conversation that happened over and over as people tried to board the plane was classic Abbott and Costello. It went something like this:

“I’m sorry sir, this plane is going to Pasco.”
“I know, that’s where I’m going.”
“No, you’re going to El Paso.”
“I know. That’s why I’m trying to get on this plane.”
“No, sir, you don’t understand, we’re going to Pasco. That’s in Washington state. Not El Paso, Texas. Your flight leaves later.”
“So this isn’t going to El Paso?”
“No sir. It’s going to Pasco.”
“But that’s where I’m going.”

And…repeat. About 25 times.

That, my friends, is how I manage to survive so much travel. If you pay attention, there’s always something you haven’t seen before that is just plain (plane?) funny.