Today is friday.
We get off early today it being a long weekend and all.
I am back in the office after bring in Albuquerque all week.
Things are good... so here are a few ramdom thoughts on this friday:
Being a plane for long periods of time with not much to do gives you a LOT of time to think. Being a plane alone gives you a lot of insight about yourself and the world around you. It gives you the truest view of life it seems, as the people you encounter and meet truely are a random sampling of the world (in that n > 30-- i am being statistically correct).... sorry for the nerd in me.... but i do believe this. I really do. I have had a few moments-- multiple moments where i just stepped back from my inner self to take a look at things--
1). I tend to think i am not a very gregarious person. Actually i think i am usually a quieter personality and tend to not step into conversation unless invited. I am not one to strike up conversations with strangers and when a conversation ends generally i don't fill the empty voids. I think this is who i am. However. When I was travelling this weekend-- being alone in airports or planes for 6-8 hours at a time over the last few days--- I found so many people approached me. And approached me in such a kind and generous way that i found it quite striking actually. One women who was sitting across the isle from me ( i was on aisle she was across near the window) and i was grabbing my bag from the jet way she stopped me and said " i noticed your ring on the plane. It's SO beautiful, it caught my eye its so pretty. The only thing prettier is the gal." Can you be any nicer??? IT MADE MY DAY! A simple comment, unsolicited compliment can change the entire direction of your mood and energy and rest of my day actually. On the second flight on my way home another man stopped me as i was walking to the plane and said " you are from the Albuquerque flight..." I dont know how he recognized me, but he walked all the the way from terminal to plane about the city, where is from, why he is going to Cincinnati, and it turns our he and his wife are going to visit his daughter who just moved. And before i knew it was switching cards to meet his daughter who is younger and close to my age.
And this was the second time this trip i exchanged information. This leads me to:
2) There are some people you meet just briefly but think about long after the encounter is over. I dont know how often this happens to others, it rarely happens to me, although i do know a lot of incredible people. The man i met on my first flight out west was one of these people. Once again i was sitting in my seat minding my own business with a book open in front of me and the man next to me struck up conversation. Harmless conversation about where i am going, where i am from, why i am travelling, ya know the usually small talk that i didn't anticipate to last long (see point number 1 above). But this man, an incredibly ordinary person looking at him; worn jeans and a t-shirt, greasy hair, kind of yellow teeth, wore a hat to cover his head up, probably in his upper thirties or maybe forties. Sometimes it's hard to tell with men. Very ordinary. He was coming home after after being in Afghanistan for 3 months. One of his many trips home for the allowed 9-10 days after three months. His wife had a baby 2 months ago and he was going home to meet him for the first time. And i don't know what it was about this man that really resonated with me. Maybe is was humble honesty about the tough life he leads, or maybe a little charm about his innocence, his slight sense of humor and his total openness about his life and work. He opened up about a lot of things-- not his deep secrets or anything-- of course not, but about his life. Things that perhaps you would worry a stranger would judge you about. It was charming really. And when i asked him what he was going to when he gets home, he told me he is looking forward to getting a coffee drink (he had a name for it) that was a flavored coffee with a shot of carmel. It wasn't what i was expected to hear, but i remember him saying it and it was just ... nice. The only word i can think of.
I dont why i think of this. He pulled out a map at one point to show me Abu dhabi (sp?)-- where he had a one day lay over-- and wanted to tell me about it. At the end of the flight he said he would email the pictures and we exchanged information. And i am not thinking about this many romantically in the least, but there was something about him that was inspiring. And he will just never know.
These people, these moments are truly uplifting. And maybe they happen more than i realize, i just never take the time to enjoy the moments. And i found that i ending up chatting with the person next to me on every flight this week (and there were 4 of them). All very nice chats with such pleasant people. It was hopeful. It's what a little bit of time by yourself gives you. Moments of clarity. Moments of joy.
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