Is it a thing for older people to be picked up from the airport?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is the only region I have ever lived in where people seem to really push back against picking guests up. So I think it's regional vs an age thing. Or maybe people in DC are just less kind than elsewhere.

It's a city thing. You don't expect relatives in NYC to pick you up at the airport.

Oh please, do you really live a Manhattan car-less lifestyle here? Or are you getting into your car all the time to drive to groceri s and activities and everything else. It doesn't have to do with the "city"

DP. I know of a number of families in this area who have one car. We have two but mine is a compact and with two car seats in I can only pickup one guest if I have both kids and car seats in the car. Not everyone is a dual-mini an-SUV household.

But this is about picking up one guest.

I have trouble believing that OP's car doesn't have a seat for an adult. She has 2 kids, so she must have a backseat, which means that there is a front passenger seat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Normally I'd say that refusing to take a 10AM flight due to personal inconvenience and choosing a flight that gets in at 5:30 instead, during rush hour traffic and conflicting with your work schedules, is incredibly rude. But since it's the day after Thanksgiving and traffic should be light, yeah, you should pick him up. I do think it's fine for him to wait an hour or so if you need to handle daycare etc. first. But I assume your DH can do that?

we didn't know that it was going to be the day after Thanksgiving - now my brother is going to pick him up (but will have to drive 1+hour each way)
My DH does not handle the dinner time / bedtime on his own.

It sounds like your Dad is not the person you should be frustrated with.

Agree OP has a husband problem. All this arguing because a man can’t care for his children for an hour or two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is the only region I have ever lived in where people seem to really push back against picking guests up. So I think it's regional vs an age thing. Or maybe people in DC are just less kind than elsewhere.

You've clearly never lived in NYC.

Or LA. I’d throw Boston into the mix too.

I lived in Boston you literally can get to the airport in 15 minutes from every part of Boston, so yes you pick up Family.

What? I guess I’m a sucker then. Maybe my Uber always takes a circuitous route to my destination because it always take longer than 15 minutes.

Where are you going?

It probably not really Boston but you call it Boston. Like “Boston College” is not in Boston.

So we were only talking about DC proper than, not the metro area? If I’m in Aspen Hill I get a pass from driving to DCA just like someone in Brockton would not be expected to schlep to Logan during rush hour?

If you're in Aspen Hill you pick them up at BWI.

Not if they insisted on flying to DCA because it’s more convenient, better flights, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never pick up people at the airport, nor do I expect to be picked up. But I do hire an actual car service (the kind with a personalized sign) rather than make family members rely on Uber, since they aren’t always used to working that app.

I did this once for my mother when I couldn’t leave work to pick her up … and she was horribly offended.

My mom loves it. She thinks it is “fancy” haha.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Normally I'd say that refusing to take a 10AM flight due to personal inconvenience and choosing a flight that gets in at 5:30 instead, during rush hour traffic and conflicting with your work schedules, is incredibly rude. But since it's the day after Thanksgiving and traffic should be light, yeah, you should pick him up. I do think it's fine for him to wait an hour or so if you need to handle daycare etc. first. But I assume your DH can do that?

we didn't know that it was going to be the day after Thanksgiving - now my brother is going to pick him up (but will have to drive 1+hour each way)
My DH does not handle the dinner time / bedtime on his own.

It sounds like your Dad is not the person you should be frustrated with.

Agree OP has a husband problem. All this arguing because a man can’t care for his children for an hour or two.

Husband can pick up his FIL then. What a man child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Normally I'd say that refusing to take a 10AM flight due to personal inconvenience and choosing a flight that gets in at 5:30 instead, during rush hour traffic and conflicting with your work schedules, is incredibly rude. But since it's the day after Thanksgiving and traffic should be light, yeah, you should pick him up. I do think it's fine for him to wait an hour or so if you need to handle daycare etc. first. But I assume your DH can do that?

we didn't know that it was going to be the day after Thanksgiving - now my brother is going to pick him up (but will have to drive 1+hour each way)
My DH does not handle the dinner time / bedtime on his own.

So the solution you've come up with is your brother has to spend 2 plus hours getting your dad? I agree the simplest solution is your dad taking a taxi or Uber, but I would think you and your husband could find a way to make this work on what is a semi-holiday for one afternoon.

Flexibility doesn't seem to be a thing in your family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow! Your dad is coming and you will not pick him up?

Wait? Let me guess. You are a WASP?

No wonder you guys don't reciprocate even after you stuff your faces at the dinners I host. If you cannot show manners to your parents...I am asking too much of you!

Hah! I am as WASP as they come. My father always insists on collecting us at the airport. Always.

It's much more generational than anything else. Older generations aren't familiar with Uber or even the severity of rush hour traffic and that it was always the norm to go pick up people at the airport or train stations rather than letting them vend for themselves or incur the expense of a taxi.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of older people (boomers) are narcissists and expect to be catered to hand and foot. You pick a child or kid from college at the airport, not a grown adult who's navigated back and forth to the airport dozens of times in their life. Tell em to take an uber.

Seriously. My parents usually fly into Reagan. They’ll jump on metro and I’ll pick them up at the stop near us. They’re in their 70’s and have traveled all over the world. Do people on this thread have parents who have regressed to childhood?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of older people (boomers) are narcissists and expect to be catered to hand and foot. You pick a child or kid from college at the airport, not a grown adult who's navigated back and forth to the airport dozens of times in their life. Tell em to take an uber.

Seriously. My parents usually fly into Reagan. They’ll jump on metro and I’ll pick them up at the stop near us. They’re in their 70’s and have traveled all over the world. Do people on this thread have parents who have regressed to childhood?

No, those parents have better children.

[Anonymous]

My parents don't even know how to download an app or pay for anything online. I don't expect them to know how to Uber.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If they can figure out how to fly first class across the country, or wherever, they can figure out how to uber/lyft/taxi a short ride home.

The rude part is expecting someone to take time away from their family/work, when they are retired (and have been retired for decades). This is especially true if they weren't the type to help out with the kids once or twice a year. Eff that.

Right, they presumably figured out how to get to the airport and to their flight, sometimes with a connecting flight. But as soon as they get to their destination city, they lose all competence to figure out the last few miles?

And, yes, retired people should figure out how to make their travel convenient for working people with kids.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I'm still stuck on the fact that your DH can't handle dinner/bed time on his own. Not even once??? THAT'S the issue here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of older people (boomers) are narcissists and expect to be catered to hand and foot. You pick a child or kid from college at the airport, not a grown adult who's navigated back and forth to the airport dozens of times in their life. Tell em to take an uber.

Seriously. My parents usually fly into Reagan. They’ll jump on metro and I’ll pick them up at the stop near us. They’re in their 70’s and have traveled all over the world. Do people on this thread have parents who have regressed to childhood?

No, those parents have better children.

No, those children have entitled parents, which is sadly common with Baby Boomer parents.

My parents like their independence, and my mom has said she considers metro to be an “adventure” (in a positive way, if you can believe that)

[Anonymous]

Hell, I even pick up and drop off my MIL.
Minneapolis- yes
Philadelphia- almost always
London- no, oh, wait, sometimes
NYC - rarely unless older family members
LA- yes
Boston- mmm, depends on time, age, ease of public transportation connections
DC… ah, DC. Land of Get Me Mine First - yes, if you’re not from here

[Anonymous]

Seriously. My parents usually fly into Reagan. They’ll jump on metro and I’ll pick them up at the stop near us. They’re in their 70’s and have traveled all over the world. Do people on this thread have parents who have regressed to childhood?

No, but perhaps some people have had different experiences than you.

My mother, now in her 80s, flew three or four times in her life with my father. After he died 20 years ago, she has flown twice with me. The one time she had to fly alone a couple of years ago, we offered a lot of support (like picking her up) because it was a very new experience.