I just took a little jaunt, a little trip. I have an extra day off this week, because someone I worked for last week is paying me back this week. I decided to take advantage and use my flight benefits - mostly so I could just say that I did it. No real other reason.
As far as the trip goes, I did nothing. Absolutely NOTHING. I didn't even leave the hotel. I ordered pizza in from a local pizzeria that delivered. I went to the pool for about an hour. That was the extent of it. Otherwise, I just relaxed. I read, I played on my iPad, I watched HGTV (I don't have cable television). I arrived around noon yesterday and left there at 10:00 this morning.
When I fly, I usually take a book and read. Or a magazine. Something to occupy my time. Even when I'm flying with someone I know, I don't usually chat with them. So, when a stranger is sitting next to me, I generally keep to myself and read. I'm just not someone who wants or likes to chat with people in that setting. Working for the airline, I notice alot of people who come off their flights just chatting way like they are best friends - only for me to realize that they have just met. That's just not me.
So - today I'm sitting by a man, he appears to be about my age. He smelled of coffee and something else that I couldn't put my finger on. When we took off, he told me that was his favorite part - because he was a hot rodder. I just acknowledged the statement and went to my book. He told me he was continuing through to Kansas City. Again, I just acknowledged what he said and went back to my book. He napped a bit. Otherwise, that was the whole of our chatting. Just as we were coming around for landing, we hit the thunderstorms. With that came the turbulence - the bouncing, dipping, side to side kind of turbulence. That is when we talked a little more - fifteen minutes from landing. I found out that this man had lived in Joplin, Missouri up until the tornado happened. He said after that, any type of rainstorm caused him great stress.. He said if it was a thunder storm, it caused him even more stress. He just couldn't deal with that - he would rather deal with earthquakes that happen seldom rather than the threat of tornadoes that happen every spring. That was when he moved to California.
He told me he was on his way to Kansas City because his daughter had been in a bad accident. I asked if she was all right and he told me that in the next couple of days they had to decide if they were taking her off of life support. He added that, "nothing even happened to her f*$#ing boyfriend". Apparently, the boyfriend and his daughter had been arguing and when they left, he was angry and did something stupid that caused an accident. He came away unscathed, while this man's daughter was probably going to die. He said that he was going to have to stay away from the boyfriend. I felt bad after that conversation, realizing that this man probably just needed someone to talk to and I did everything in my power to not talk to him, to just keep from having any type of conversation.
When we left each other, I told him I would be thinking about him alot today. That I hoped everything turned out ok. Didn't sound like he had much hope for that. From now on, I'm going to try and pay more attention - it's possible that someone just needs an ear to listen. A friend to lean on . A stranger to hear.
As far as the trip goes, I did nothing. Absolutely NOTHING. I didn't even leave the hotel. I ordered pizza in from a local pizzeria that delivered. I went to the pool for about an hour. That was the extent of it. Otherwise, I just relaxed. I read, I played on my iPad, I watched HGTV (I don't have cable television). I arrived around noon yesterday and left there at 10:00 this morning.
When I fly, I usually take a book and read. Or a magazine. Something to occupy my time. Even when I'm flying with someone I know, I don't usually chat with them. So, when a stranger is sitting next to me, I generally keep to myself and read. I'm just not someone who wants or likes to chat with people in that setting. Working for the airline, I notice alot of people who come off their flights just chatting way like they are best friends - only for me to realize that they have just met. That's just not me.
So - today I'm sitting by a man, he appears to be about my age. He smelled of coffee and something else that I couldn't put my finger on. When we took off, he told me that was his favorite part - because he was a hot rodder. I just acknowledged the statement and went to my book. He told me he was continuing through to Kansas City. Again, I just acknowledged what he said and went back to my book. He napped a bit. Otherwise, that was the whole of our chatting. Just as we were coming around for landing, we hit the thunderstorms. With that came the turbulence - the bouncing, dipping, side to side kind of turbulence. That is when we talked a little more - fifteen minutes from landing. I found out that this man had lived in Joplin, Missouri up until the tornado happened. He said after that, any type of rainstorm caused him great stress.. He said if it was a thunder storm, it caused him even more stress. He just couldn't deal with that - he would rather deal with earthquakes that happen seldom rather than the threat of tornadoes that happen every spring. That was when he moved to California.
He told me he was on his way to Kansas City because his daughter had been in a bad accident. I asked if she was all right and he told me that in the next couple of days they had to decide if they were taking her off of life support. He added that, "nothing even happened to her f*$#ing boyfriend". Apparently, the boyfriend and his daughter had been arguing and when they left, he was angry and did something stupid that caused an accident. He came away unscathed, while this man's daughter was probably going to die. He said that he was going to have to stay away from the boyfriend. I felt bad after that conversation, realizing that this man probably just needed someone to talk to and I did everything in my power to not talk to him, to just keep from having any type of conversation. When we left each other, I told him I would be thinking about him alot today. That I hoped everything turned out ok. Didn't sound like he had much hope for that. From now on, I'm going to try and pay more attention - it's possible that someone just needs an ear to listen. A friend to lean on . A stranger to hear.
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