A tale of two sittings
This weekend was spent feting my good friend's marriage to the man of her dreams -- and I have to admit, they are perfect together. It's almost too much. But I am so very excited and happy for her. I have never seen someone glow the way she did this past weekend. What fun.
What wasn't fun was my plane trips there. My journey started in disaster... a 4:00 wake-up; torrents of rain resulting in one very wet me and my luggage; a shrieking escalator; a cab driver who tried to overcharge me and then proceeded to insult me (but I won't go into that here)... Despite that stress, I did make my flight just fine and had a good time.
Peer pressure
On the first leg of the trip out to Colorado, I tried to read. I had brought a magazine and a few books with me, knowing I had several hours en route and in transit. Looking around me however, I noticed that everyone else had some erudite-looking "quality softback" book for their in-flight entertainment... stuff with elaborate art on the front; shiny metallic badges signallng the medals and awards the authors had won; glowing reviews by people at real newspapers. Me? I had a cheap and cheesy mass market paperback. And it looked it. Cutesy sketches of women with punny reviews. Hmmm...
Can you believe it but I actually felt compelled to pull out my more sophisticated-looking novel to put on my lap to indicate a brain upstairs? It wasn't like anyone else was peering at me or judging this book by its cover, but I was definitely the only one within the scope of my gaze who had "light summer reading" on her lap. And I felt the pressure of their collective sophisticated taste in reading material (purely, self-induced, of course). So much so that that more erudite reading sat on my lap, but not so much so that that other trashy one stayed in my hands and I read on. Ah peer pressure... That'll teach me to spy on others' reading!
Bummed
So, on the last leg of my last leg home last night, I was miserable. It was another packed flight, but this plane was a puddle-jumper (ya' know, a "regional flight") so we were 2x2 with NO room anywhere. I don't think the plane was more than 6 feet across. Anyone over 5' 5" and 140 lbs. was outta luck on this flight. My stomach wasn't too happy with me (too much good food at the wedding or too much bad food earlier? I dunno), and I couldn't focus too much on reading, even my trashy novel. One thing I did notice, however, was my seatmate. Ya' know how some flights show instructional videos on how to do exercises in flight? Well, this flight barely had an intercom, let alone the technology to show movies, but I swear that my neighbor was exercising her gluteus maximus. As she sat there reading her erudite book (looked like philosophy or a thick book of history), she kept bouncing ever so slightly up and down. It definitely wasn't turbulance, but it was quite amusing. She managed to multi-task by reading her book, listening to music and get in her workout. Leave it to me to notice something like that.
Flight arrived in DC, and I poured out of the plane. I was so glad to be home. Since I was lugging a present for a friend -- a twelve of beer which you can't buy in this area -- I decided to take a cab back to my apartment. And this time, no one tried to overcharge me, thank goodness.
What wasn't fun was my plane trips there. My journey started in disaster... a 4:00 wake-up; torrents of rain resulting in one very wet me and my luggage; a shrieking escalator; a cab driver who tried to overcharge me and then proceeded to insult me (but I won't go into that here)... Despite that stress, I did make my flight just fine and had a good time.
Peer pressure
On the first leg of the trip out to Colorado, I tried to read. I had brought a magazine and a few books with me, knowing I had several hours en route and in transit. Looking around me however, I noticed that everyone else had some erudite-looking "quality softback" book for their in-flight entertainment... stuff with elaborate art on the front; shiny metallic badges signallng the medals and awards the authors had won; glowing reviews by people at real newspapers. Me? I had a cheap and cheesy mass market paperback. And it looked it. Cutesy sketches of women with punny reviews. Hmmm...
Can you believe it but I actually felt compelled to pull out my more sophisticated-looking novel to put on my lap to indicate a brain upstairs? It wasn't like anyone else was peering at me or judging this book by its cover, but I was definitely the only one within the scope of my gaze who had "light summer reading" on her lap. And I felt the pressure of their collective sophisticated taste in reading material (purely, self-induced, of course). So much so that that more erudite reading sat on my lap, but not so much so that that other trashy one stayed in my hands and I read on. Ah peer pressure... That'll teach me to spy on others' reading!
Bummed
So, on the last leg of my last leg home last night, I was miserable. It was another packed flight, but this plane was a puddle-jumper (ya' know, a "regional flight") so we were 2x2 with NO room anywhere. I don't think the plane was more than 6 feet across. Anyone over 5' 5" and 140 lbs. was outta luck on this flight. My stomach wasn't too happy with me (too much good food at the wedding or too much bad food earlier? I dunno), and I couldn't focus too much on reading, even my trashy novel. One thing I did notice, however, was my seatmate. Ya' know how some flights show instructional videos on how to do exercises in flight? Well, this flight barely had an intercom, let alone the technology to show movies, but I swear that my neighbor was exercising her gluteus maximus. As she sat there reading her erudite book (looked like philosophy or a thick book of history), she kept bouncing ever so slightly up and down. It definitely wasn't turbulance, but it was quite amusing. She managed to multi-task by reading her book, listening to music and get in her workout. Leave it to me to notice something like that.
Flight arrived in DC, and I poured out of the plane. I was so glad to be home. Since I was lugging a present for a friend -- a twelve of beer which you can't buy in this area -- I decided to take a cab back to my apartment. And this time, no one tried to overcharge me, thank goodness.
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