We got to the Zurich airport this morning, and I was anticipating a nice, relaxing morning at the airport lounge complete with a warm breakfast and some nice Swiss milk before boarding our flight. Little did I know that not only was it not even an American Airlines specific lounge, it was some sub par third-party lounge that had no hot food at all until 11:30 (way past our time in the lounge), gave complimentary Wi-Fi for only up to one hour (then, you’d be kicked off the network and forced to pay), and barely had edible bread to eat. The only things I really enjoyed were the Swiss pineapple yogurt and the Swiss milk. Everything else was depressing.

When I was feeling my disappointment, I realized that my disappointment in this lounge experience was also the equivalent of my level of elitism now being a frequent flier. When I fly internationally, I now have the expectation that the lounges in other countries will be better because the U.S. lounges, at least for domestic carriers, are always an embarrassment, while the ones operated by international airlines and in other countries are always like walking into a luxurious suite. I guess this just goes to show that we adapt to our environment. I no longer go into lounges wide-eyed and thinking it’s amazing just because it’s a lounge that I have access to.