Greetings from roughly 36,000 feet; more than likely somewhere over the state of Ohio. It’s common practice, as you know, to begin my blogs apologizing for the lack of consistency. Well, in 2011, it is a goal of mine to be better in regularly blogging about my travels and so we start with the first of the year:
The world is made up of many, many, MANY interesting people and fortunately (most of the time) I get to encounter quite a few of these breeds amidst my journeys. To kick off 2011, I have decided to share a recent encounter with a flight passenger I was oh so lucky to be seated next to earlier this week.
Mr. 6B as we will call him, had me peg him as awkward from relatively early on in the two plus change hour flight from Atlanta to Kansas City. He looked exactly like Al Bundy from Married with Children (cannot recall his real name and don’t want to pay $12 for the GoGo Inflight Internet Access to Google it) and just had a slightly awkward demeanor. He would look over and stare at me like he was about to strike up conversation but would never say anything. And he did this multiple times. He was also way too interested in what I was doing on my iPad. Personal space buddy! Finally (and thankfully no earlier) about twenty minutes before landing he decides to strike up conversation with the usual; asking about why I’m headed to our current destination. This evolves into me explaining my job and my heavy travel schedule, which he understands as he’s a commercial aluminum salesman. (Score one for me. I win in the better sales job category!) He goes on to ask, as they all do, if I’m married and have a family. I think all sales people love asking that question hoping they can find common ground and vent about the difficulties of juggling life on the road and a family. Which, of course, I totally get and have sympathy for. It’s hard enough doing it solo…I don’t see how I could ever do this job with a family. I digress. When I say I am single (need to start lying about that more often and start wearing my fake diamond ring again) he probes with more questions implying that I couldn’t possibly be happy as a single independent working/traveling businesswoman. I happily tell him I love my job, love being single and have never been more content in my life than I am right now. His response was “Well you should really probably start trying to find a husband and settle down don’t you think?” I BEG your pardon!?! I have never wanted to punch my seat companion so badly. The nerve! Maybe he really was Al Bundy.
As if that weren’t enough, the conversation somehow turns into sports and knowing me, the Steelers quickly become the topic. He claims to love sports but when I ask him about his teams, it gets fishy. He’s lived in Atlanta for 18 years, and likes the Falcons when they are good. He is from Buffalo and likes the Bills when they are good. Um, loser, that is not loving sports. He then goes into preaching mode about how sports is purely entertainment and that he enjoys it for the entertainment aspect of watching who is hot at the moment. Blasphemy! You cannot call yourself a sports fan if you have no loyalty. He can clearly tell I am extremely passionate about my teams and lectures me that it is “very dangerous” to get emotionally involved in sports. Really? Ok, so I might take Steelers football a little too seriously but that is what it’s all about. If you can’t have passion for something, what is the point of living! I’ll tell you what’s dangerous….sitting next to a strong willed, stubborn independent woman, saying all of that stuff, and expecting to walk off the plane with your manhood.
We land. Apparently he thinks we are friends and tries to walk down the tarmac with me. Cue “dropping” something and having to stop and reorganize myself. Sayonara sucker!
One word..ASS!
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