techno_ballerina

Observations, on the flight/airplane home from Boston:

[*] The woman across from me in the airport lounge has maybe three layers of clothing on, with maybe twelve necklases around her neck...silver and gold, beads and jewels and stones I've never seen before. She has a sweater on her lap and she's stroking it softly and feeding her sleeping husband m&m's. His mouth involuntarily opens and closes and he manages to chew them. There's TVs blaring nearby, babbling on about Clinton's heart surgery, saying he will be making a full recovery and so forth. There's a woman next to me with her son in her arms, he must be no older than two years old. He's golden blonde hair and I can hear the little puffs coming out from his nose clearly. Her husband and other son are slurping away on ice cream cones from the nearby McDonalds and the wife with the sleeping son keeps on insisting to her husband that the ice cream will make the child "too wired."

[*] My mother keeps on calling while I'm waiting in the airport for them to board my plane. "What did he do to you?" she keeps on asking. Nothing, he did nothing, I say. I'm just really tired, I tell her. My hand finds the wadded up tissue in my purse, blowing my nose, wiping away the tears. The old lady with all the clothes on is staring at me across the way, at me sniffling and trying to not burst into tears.

[*] The seat is all the way in the back of the plane, as always. I hurl my bag into the overhead compartment. I'm sitting between an overweight woman with long, beautiful gold hair who's munching down on candybars and looking too interested in her Anne Rice novel, and a man next to me who's cleancut and cute, maybe in his late twenties/early thirties. The plane is taking off & I'm shivering violently. Are you cold? The man asks me. Before I can say a word, he wraps his tweed jacket around me and I thank him gratefully. It smells of tobacco and cheap cologne. What were you doing in Boston? I ask him. Oh...I've a girlfriend in Boston. We met through one of those cheesy chatrooms online, y'know? We've been talking off and on throughout the years, and sometimes I get a chance to see her when I've the money. I only spent a few days with her, wish it could've been longer. Y'know...people take love for granted. They think if it's for real, they've nothing to loose. But, when you're so far away, you must take advantage of every moment. I came close to proposing today. Bought the ring and all. Something held me back. In relationships like these...ya never know. Ya never know. I nod, understanding. Sounds pretty fucking familiar I feel like laughing aloud.

[*] Flying over Michigan is extremely depressing. It's nothing but flat land, hardly any buildings, any cars or houses, hardly any life til we arrive in Detroit. I haul ass through the airport, only given a half hour to catch the next flight. There's various people chatting on their cellphones, scolding their children, complaining they need their cigarettes, I feel like screaming "Get the fuck out of the way," but instead "excuse me, sorry," will do just fine in these scenerios.

[*] Flight from Detroit to St. Louis = uneventful. I see the silver arch gleaming in the distance, and a little boy is shrieking "Daddy, the arch! The arch!" I wonder if they still allow people to go up there anymore? Or maybe they stopped because of terrorist warnings? The last time I went I was in 2nd grade and I nearly puked when we reached the top. You were walking at an angle, and everything looked so tiny. Not as tiny as from an airplane, but still...

[*] My parents are outside of the terminal when I get off the plane. There's hugs, kisses. My father has this faraway look in his eyes, like something's been going on in his head. We're cheery on the ride home, I'm telling them the good things that happened in Boston, we're making stupid jokes, etc. My father's pissed at me for not leaving him with a gass-less car and my mom gets onto him for not helping me carry in my bags into the house. My sister got braces today and she's moping around the house, swallowing painkillers (they weren't that bad when I got mine) and my brother waves before returning to his girlfriend on the phone.

Sigh.
Good to be home.