Yesterday I traveled from Asheville, North Carolina to Portland, Oregon. The day started out rocky. Since I traveled with my cat I had to pay extra, and when I arrived at the airport there was some problem with my reservation. The man behind the desk- Sam- yelled at some people on the phone and I stood there for forty minutes debating whether to call Tommy and tell him to come back and get me- I wasn't going home for Christmas after all.
Remember being young and airplanes were fun and exciting? I do.
The flying part of flying stopped being fun a long time ago. I've been on enough ten hour flights to be over it. But the part of flying I do like is the people.
On my flight to London earlier this year I sat next to a couple who were going to Spain for a month for their anniversary. The husband got drunk and shouted obscenities at the loud German teenagers on our flight. So good.
On my flight out of Kenya I sat next to a lady who worked with some bank, she went into struggling countries and helped set up banking systems.
On my flight to Utah a few months ago I saw next to a guy who is my age and is a pilot in the air force. He was in Portland for a wedding and was heading back to ship out again.
I love the all-in-this-together part of airports and planes. I love the way everyone is out of place, everyone is trying to get somewhere. It bring out people's true colors.
Traveling with Puff was a new kind of deal. Everywhere I walked people looked at me, I could hear people talking- "ohhh, look so cute!" "Is it alive?" "Why is she taking her cat?"
A few people even approached me. In Atlanta I met a couple of ladies from Switzerland who had traveled with animals before and wanted to know how it was going.
On the flight between Atlanta and Portland I sat next to a girl who was reading Sherlock Holmes. I was wearing my "I am SHER locked" shirt, so we started talking about Sherlock. About an hour into the flight I knew Puff was getting restless so I let her out and she slept on my lap the last four hours to home. She's been driving around with me a lot, so she's a good traveler. When we got to Portland suddenly everyone knew I had a cat and wanted to talk about her while we waited for the doors to open. A guy across the aisle pulled out his dog, and there was a moment of camaraderie between a bunch of strangers on a plane.
Spending all day traveling is not the dream, but being in a situation where it is easy to meet people who are walking different paths is. I love the short-lived relationships that form on planes. Getting on to an plane is taking a huge chance, you're going to spend some time with a stranger, may as well make it memorable.
Coming into Portland the plane flew by Mt Hood and with Puff asleep in my arms I may have discovered some of the magic of flying again.
Moral of the story: Strangers are everywhere, talk to them.
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