It could have been worse .. barely

Sometimes, you walk away feeling like you've won, even though you lost. It's just that you lost 5-4 instead of 11-1.

For example, in booking our airline flights, we were able to decline flight itineraries like:
A) the one which gave us only 25 minutes to change planes in Denver. Even pre-convicted OJ sans black glove couldn't have hurdled enough luggage in the airport to make a flight in 25 minutes.
B) the flight which forced us to spend a night in NYC on the way back. A night in New York would have traumatized these two children for their rest of their lives. The Russian govt prevents adopted children from staying overnight in NY until they are at least old enough to purchase a handgun.
C) the one which charged Yana over $2000 for her one-way return flight from Russia. Mom and dad's flight didn't cost that much, and dad will eat far more airline peanuts than Yana. Doesn't seem equitable, and that type of child abuse should be reported to the proper authorities.
D) the one from Northwest which forced us to stay overnight in Amsterdam on the way back. One problem: the children's passports won't allow them to stay overnight in Europe. (I thought breaking the law in pot-legal, prostitution-legal Amsterdam was impossible).

So somehow, all of this winds up making us feel good about booking a flight which will cost us $3,900 and forces us to stay in the dreaded Moscow airport with all of our luggage from 1 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. while waiting for our connecting flight to Siberia, an airport which is smaller than our apartment and has all the charm of an unfinished basement.

But it could have been worse.

Right?