Every weekend I learn something new about someone or they give me a piece of perspective that I’ve never had before. Both are great to have.
I’m just going to list off a bunch of things that I thought about or learned.
Airports are strange. I think it’s a very unique experience and interesting how public transportation brings people together to reach a common goal. We are all going to the same place together. We’ve come from different places and backgrounds, and are going for different reasons, but for the duration of the trip, we are metaphorically in the same boat. Unless you’re on a boat. Then I guess it’s not a metaphor. And it’s perfectly acceptable to still be strangers the whole time you are going through the entire experience. I’ve never sat so close to someone that I didn’t know for so long, and not talked to them. Obviously that’s a choice I make, but I don’t really care. I don’t care about the guy in seat 5C. The only time I care about him is if he is putting his arm all over me. My mom sat next to a guy in a leather jacket that smelled like garlic and was obsessed with Harry Potter. After telling her his favorite Harry Potter jelly bean was earwax, he pulled a wand out of his pocket and asked her if she wanted to hold it (that’s not some weird play-on-words for penis holding. That’s extremely literal). If I had to sit next to a weird smelling wizard, then I care. Other than that, I could never see 5C again and be perfectly ok with it.
“I’ve been doing well, just trying to stick on this diet, but man…I love those cinnabons…” – Black guy on the phone in the airport talking louder than he probably should be.
I’ve never realized how insignificant I really am until I was up in the air and couldn’t identify a single human being. I have about 500 people in my life that I probably know, and that’s it. No one from Tennessee has ever heard of me. That’s a whole freakin state that doesn’t know who I am and probably never will. I am no more significant than the ants I kill on my counter when you’re 5000 feet above land.
It’s amazing how a few beers can bring out honest and meaningful conversations about feelings after 25 years of suppressed, passive-aggressive behavior.
If you don’t embrace the person you are, flaws and all, you’ll never understand why another person can. Letting them love you for who you are is painful, because you think they might deserve something else. One of the best things we can ever learn about ourselves is that we aren’t perfect. And we have to accept that in order to be healthy. What’s worse is that if you hold on to those things, that’s all you’ll see. You have to deal with it. All problems are dirty socks, and you eventually have to deal with them. Struggling is ok. One very wise cousin once told me that great accomplishments come from great obstacles. So deal with that obstacle and become great.
That’s all. Thanks for reading.
– Harry Potter’s Flight Attendant
