Flying around

(Written Fri Aug 21st… I will get better at this, I promise!)
In an attempt to keep up writing skills and actually be true to having a blog, here it goes….

An hour ago, I boarded a flight to Atlanta (a pit stop on the way to Seattle). Everyone boarded, all was well, until I was briefly transported to the airport scene from Meet the Parents. Remember that one? Airport drama. Maybe airports are the prime place for the divas of the world to let it all lose, since even ordinary even-tempered people can lose it. Yet the flight attendant definitely did not provoke a woman in an exit row enough to warrant a cat fight. When asked to turn off her phone, a woman responded, “I do not like the tone you are taking with me. If you would address me in a professional tone, I would be happy to answer your question.” This went on for some time and I thought I was on a sixth grade girls bathroom break—oh the drama. Well, in my row, I snickered with the woman next to me.

Sidenote: yes, it is one of my favorite past-times to begin a conversation with the person beside me. For all you nay-sayers out there, don’t worry. I listen to body language and don’t carry on unnecessarily. I would compare finding a seat in an airplane to meeting your freshman year roommate at school. Generally speaking, it is a random assignment, and that is part of the joy. My usual intro line is, “Are you headed home?” You are warned. Yet I will say, this line has led me to have discussions with very interesting, caring, enlightening people and learn quite a bit.

a. Minneapolis, MN→Dallas, TX. I met a retiree, approximately 70. The tall, lean man had a wide smile and eagerly pointed out his wife of forty-five years five rows ahead of us. The love this man had for his wife was clear in only a brief conversation. Moreover, his resolve for his faith was incredible. He was neither fanatical nor afraid to openly discuss his foundation in life—faith and God.

b. Minneapolis, MN→ Miami, FL. Two years ago, I was on my way to Ecuador, only two years of beginner Spanish under my belt and a tad nervous to be thrown into my “language agreement—that I wouldn’t speak any English.” A free-spirited thirtyish year-old sat down next to me. His look was polished and he looked ready for clubbing, definitely not a Midwesterner in jeans and a hoodie (or me, cozy in sweatpants for a day of flying!) It turned out he was from Colombia, wanted me to visit his bellisimo country and insisted on writing his phone number in Bogota in my book-flap. (It was easier just to let this happen and then wave… “nos vemos!” *wink, no*). In any case, we talked in Spanish for half the flight and I got off the plane feeling a little more ready for Quito.

c. Rochester, MN→Chicago, IL. A mother traveling with her daughter told me of their gratefulness for the kind people in Minnesota throughout her daughter’s chemo treatment. For ten minutes or so she described her daughter’s doctor and I discovered it was a family friend. Hearing the story of a girl’s illness through the eyes of her mother was humbling.

d. Rochester, MN→Chicago, IL. A bright-eyed Chilean physician who was returning home from six weeks working in Rochester was kind enough to speak with me in Spanish for most of the 40 minute flight. He left me his business card, in case I ever am really able to visit Chile, his children, twenty-somethings themselves, would be pleased to show a Rochester-girl Santiago.

e. Seattle, WA→ Atlanta, GA. A woman with two cats and two dogs beside her gave me Benadryl when I revealed my cat allergy. Sweet.

Last note on the actual flight: while gazing out the window at the clouds and blanket of darkness, a huge ball of light exploded on top of the wing. A “boom” sounding all-too much like that of an explosion reached my window from the lightening-ball five feet from my window. I had never seen lightening hit a plane, but after slightly jumping into the lap of the woman next to me and being reassured by the flight attendant that this was normal (fire-ball-of-light five foot in diameter?) I closed my eyes to nap…and shut the window blind.