02 March 2009

flight 749

I squeeze past him and he doesn't even look up. which is fine with me. when I'm flying, I keep to myself. I always ask for a seat by the window and I say as little as possible to those around me. I do not invite conversation. I turn my body towards the small oval window and slip my headphones on. I line up potential reading material, I organize snacks. I look out towards the wing of the plane and pray that it does not fall off while we are up in the sky.

forty minutes into the flight and we are still pretending we are not sitting next to each other. he asks for a tiny bottle of jack daniels and a can of pepsi. he chases it with a pinch of tobacco which makes the air between us smell sour and acidic. he seems mildly agitated with everything around him. there's a thin, steely layer of something akin to anger just beneath the surface of his skin, I can feel it. he asks for another miniature bottle of jack daniels and mixes it with watered down pepsi. he downs it and closes his eyes. he is the kind of man who enjoys magazines like maxim. he eats lunch at hooters. he tells his girlfriend she's put on a little weight even when she hasn't. he is this kind of man, I am sure of it.

across the aisle are three loud twenty-something girls who cannot stop talking about some party. she was like and then I was like and then she was all and then I was all and we were like I was like he was like she was like. I cannot tell where one begins and the other ends. they are a fabulous tangle of diet mountain dew bottles, great lash mascara and people magazine. I am fascinated and see a former version of myself in them but the girls, they are killing him. they are killing the small bald man who sits next to me. he has no patience for these kinds of three-headed creatures, pretty as they are. finally, he dozes off. he snores quietly while I look out the window. below us, the land is laid out like mismatched linoleum tiles. I marvel at the sight of this. my ears start to pop and I know we are getting closer. closer to land, closer to home.

we land and right away, half the passengers on the plane stand up. this is when I realize there are two types of people: those who stand as soon as the plane lands and the seat belt sign goes off and those who don't. I get swept up in the anxiety of the moment and stand up too. I wonder what this accomplishes. what is the thinking behind this? obviously, the standers want to be first to grab luggage from the overhead bin, they want to be first off the plane. they have jumped to their feet before the appropriate time and they avoid any sort of eye contact. they pretend to look bored, annoyed, anxious. on the other hand, the sitters look content. as if they know something the rest of us don't. there's really nothing to be gained from standing the minute the seat belt sign goes off. standing doesn't guarantee anything. the sitters know this. I decide I don't want to be one of the standers. I want to be a sitter. I sit and immediately feel better. the small bald man next to me is standing, of course. he's got one hand on the overhead compartment and is poised for action. this is when I notice his hands. he has nice hands, tan with veins that protrude in a way that suggest strength. I begin to look at him differently. maybe he doesn't tell his girlfriend she's fat. maybe he leaves her love notes on the night stand. maybe he reads the new yorker. maybe he faithfully eats lunch at the small family-run deli on the corner everyday. maybe he is kind-hearted. maybe.

I wait until most of the people have gone before I start to gather my things. I take one last look out the window and silently thank the wing for not falling off. I am one of the last to make my way off the plane.

80 comments:

  1. an interesting approach at airplace blogging. loved it!
    http://fab.typepad.com

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  2. You really have a way with words, what a lovely story!

    I have always been a stander, dying to get off the plane before it explodes.Last year i went on a trip with a good friend and she is such a sitter,she waited calmly,reading her book till everyone was nearly off and then stood up to go ,I was meamwhile chewing my fingers off with anxiety.Luckily the plane didn't explode that day :-)

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  3. Marvelous account. You took me right to a plane seat (by the window, of course). I'm a sitter too.

    Awhile back I was on a trans-pacific flight, and an older Asian man sat next to me. I could sense that he like to keep to himself too, and for that I was thankful (long flight!). I sometimes remember him, his handsome face, dignified manner, and the book he was reading (filled with Chinese(?) characters). We never spoke, but he is the favorite of all travel strangers I've encountered.

    Isn't it amazing how these things stick with us? I love it.

    Thanks for sharing.

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  4. You're an excellent story teller. I'm glad you opted to sit. You're right! What does standing guarantee?? I'll try to remember that next time I'm flying somewhere, which won't be for a long time unfortunately. :D

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  5. this is really lovely. thank you for sharing it!

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  6. dude, you write from the heart. i will not be a stander any more. xo

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  7. this was BEAUTIFUL....oh how I wish I could write like this !!!

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  8. dear hula seventy,

    i love your vivid descriptions of the people, smells, colors, sounds, etc. around you. you truly make a scene come alive. and also, isn't it marvelous to make a small space your own, on something like an airplane or a train or an old bus? to grasp your music and your snacks and your reading material in both hands and just BE for a couple of hours, without obligation? ah thank you for reminding me what that feels like! glad you arrived home safely!

    happy day!
    kristina

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  9. I'm getting on a plane on Wed. to go to NYC for my 30th birthday with two girlfriends. I will be thinking of this post as I watch the "sitters" and the "standers."

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  10. I'm a sitter, sitters of the world unite, standing does not open the door any faster... beautifully told.

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  11. so when is your book coming out??

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  12. i was a stander and have very recently become a sitter...

    i like that as you become a sitter, your seatmate become a far better person in your eyes...lovely.

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  13. i'm going to wrap up these words in cheesecloth and steep them in hot water later. i think they'll taste delicious.

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  14. Hi Andrea...I love your people observations...I, can relate to all this. I think maybe this kindhearted guy just is terrified to fly, hence the nervousness which was mistaken for agitation, and his downing of two jack daniels. The liquor lulled him to sleep a little, taking his mind off the flight. You should have talked to him a bit. Or maybe not. It was fun assuming.

    Enjoyable post!

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  15. this is awesome. i love being a sitter. i definitely used to be a stander, and i can't quite remember when i made the switch, but i'll say that it has made my flying experiences infinitely better.

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  16. Your words got a hold of me instantly and only let go when the story was told. Beautiful.

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  17. Hey. That's a really nice piece of writing, Andrea. And you made me realize that it's a positive to be a sitter. I always sit. I hate to get wrapped up in all the hoo-ha of the moment. I wish I could be a sitter in other moments too.

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  18. Very nice way to see the whole flying experience. You have nailed it. I am a sitter, from now on anyway. =]

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  19. I feel validated for being a sitter. I've never understood the standers - especially the ones at the back of the plane. Where do they think they're going?

    I was on that plane with you. But I wasn't one of those three girls.

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  20. Thank you. Glad you got home safe.

    And I am a sitter, always been. I like your approach, now I'm proud of it.

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  21. great post.
    i am a stander.
    and sometimes i am one of those girls.

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  22. I'm a long time listener first time caller.

    Well done. Truly. Your words read true and good.

    We have some strange connections, you and I, by the by. Jen Downer is one connection (not that she is strange, she is lovely...) and then the fact that my husband was the photographer for Mars Ill and is now friends with Nate and Kendra.

    Hope to meet you one day.

    Tootles,

    Meg

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  23. Thank you.

    This post made my day.

    Funny...I've sat next to a man that ordered a jack daniels and coke. Same sort of thing, only he was tall and reserved, but friendly.

    My flights are usually long, and I have to make quick international connections, but I try not to be a stander...it's just hard when people you miss are on the other side of those gates.

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  24. I was right there with you.

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  25. I enjoyed reading this. I, too, am a sitter from way back.

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  26. This is a really lovely story. I too recently made the decision to become a sitter and feel better for it, though it still takes effort no to get court up and stand!

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  27. woman, you are a delight.

    welcome home :)

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  28. i loved these words. so. so. much.

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  29. what a wonderful post. i am a sitter, always have been. i mosey when i walk too.

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  30. Mmmmmmm. That was a lovely respite.

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  31. beautifully written. i felt like i was there.

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  32. I'm pretty sure that nothing I can add will tell you any better than those before me, just how perfect this is. Girl. You can write! More than that. I love the way you think.

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  33. i love this! There is something magical about traveling by air and I love how you captured it.

    oh yeah, and, I'm a sitter too.

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  34. This is great. I will be clipping this and returning to it again and again.

    I often things about these things while traveling or out in the world by myself, making up lives for other people. Thanks for writing this!

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  35. I lurk here once in a while, and today I just felt I had to visit. I am glad I did...I liked your desriptions of the people on the flight. A lot.

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  36. but the only way you ever see the faces of the contented sitters is if you stand.

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  37. I've been a lurker on your blog for sometime now, but being a person travels a lot, I had to comment on this entry.

    I can be a sitter or a stander depending what's going to greet me at arrivals!

    Love your writing, really love your photos. Thanks for sharing both with the world.

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  38. so, so lovely. Thanks for the glimpse of the moment. One of my favorite things about travel is how I observe things differently, more closely. Including myself.

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  39. and she's like and he's like and we're like...

    nice! :)

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  40. exactly seven days from now i'll be sitting - but i do aisle seats now since i have a hip like jacob's. many years, many transatlantic flights since-but this time we're going back to a place we lived and raised our kids for 12 years and now must breath its air and taste its food every 18 months or so to maintain any semblance of sanity on this side of the ocean. i'll be thinking of you as i turn myself sideways and let them all hurry out, let out a big sigh, grab my forearm crutch and anticipate that first lung full of spanish air. i'll be home where the other half of my soul lives.

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  41. Beautifully written and it grasps onto me.The details are so carefully put in because they're necessary and not to over embellish.
    Enjoyed it very much!

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  42. I loved this! I have to confess, I am a sitter too. When my kiddos were young, we learned this trick of staying in our seat, so we would get trampled. : )
    xo

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  43. Wow, lovely. Your words are so gentle. I needed them. Thank you!

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  44. you have a wonderful gift, this is a beautiful piece. thank you for sharing!

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  45. such a great story. thank you for sharing.

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  46. Andrea you are a gifted observer
    which is made visible in your writings and photographs. Welcome back.

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  47. It's all the same for me, save the prayers go to the wings and the pilots. :)
    Oh, I also prefer the aisle. I like to get up and down as I please without climbing over the sour and acidic man beside me.
    xo

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  48. I am one of those standers, because my tall frame doesn't do so well with airline seats- after 3 back surgeries, I find that I need to get upright as soon as possible. I do feel foolish, tho, as I know that standing isn't going to get me off the plane any faster.

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  49. I totally enjoyed reading this. I could see the people you talked about as if I were in that plane too. Thank you. BTW, I'm a sitter unless I'm sitting next to a stander who is silently pressuring me to get up.That's one reason I always want a window seat.

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  50. i saw this in my blog reader earlier in the week but i have been saving it because i could tell it would be amazing and i wanted to wait until i could enjoy it.
    there is a website that publishes the writings and artwork of women. it is called www.vocafemina.com
    i hope you will think about submitting this to them! truly brilliant.

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  51. I could visualize everything you wrote. It's wonderful writing indeed!

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  52. This reads like a perfect short story. You have such a way with words - vivid without ever being overdone.

    And oh how I can relate to everything you said!

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  53. thanks andrea..very nice - i had chills at the end - felt like i was in the plane!

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  54. To stand! To feel my whole body stretch like it is a new DAY. To get off of the plane in any amount of time, this is what one must do. A stander will always leave the plane ahead of the sitter. And both will be happy at this.

    When I'm flying home, I'm always a stander.

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  55. thank you for little stories that take me away from numbers and spreadsheets. xxo

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  56. this was cute. i am a sitter and my husband is a stander.

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  57. Zen Sho Wordsmith.
    Beautiful!
    Thanks.

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  58. Commit to sit. Yep, that's good advice. Beautifully captured with your lovely words.

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  59. i also stay to myself and enjoying watching everything/one around me too!

    this is great, andrea!

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  60. Hi!

    I just stumbled on your blog thru "prettycraftythings", but I am now hooked! This is a fantastic post to accompany your amazing photography AND great lists!!

    I have been both the stander and the sitter, although, when I stand I almost ALWAYS hit my head on the luggage holder above! Perhaps its a sign...

    Nice job!

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  61. I love this and love your writing. I often read your posts out aloud to my husband because I love the flow of your words. He is all about the rhythm of words, being a fan of Cormac McCarthy and Paul Auster.

    Just for the record I am sitter and Dan is a stander.

    Please write a book, we'd buy it.

    Jo x

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  62. *holy crap that was beautiful*

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  63. I've enjoyed your words... one by one
    :)

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  64. whoa. now i know why tifanie is addicted to you. and so. i see. i have a different reason, even though you got me with this monologue. it's the boom box. the boom box for sure.

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  65. I just discovered your blog and absolutely love it. I have added it to my blog suggestions and reviewed it, if you are interested. You have such a fresh and fun approach and I look forward to reading more and more of your writing. I found you through Posy gets cosy

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  66. That was so fun to read, because I've felt all those things almost every time I take a plane trip. Something about everyone being trapped in such a small space with nothing to do but wait. This is where I met Dr. Bisexual and his Spoiled Son. 2 great characters, of which I couldn't help but overhear. We were privileged to every sordid detail of their lives on a flight from NYC to Toronto one year. I'll never forget it :-)

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  67. I am stunned I haven't found you before today. Where have I been? Over the weekend I was watching "Georgy Girl" - that old 60s movie with Lynn Redgrave - and there's a scene where she & her guy "friend" are on a ferry or some sort of boat. When the boat reaches the shore, people are already lined up to get off, actually clambering off before the boat has truly settled, actually taking a teeny step across the water, in such a hurry to be wherever. I'd never even thought about such a thing before - never - but watching the movie it struck me how some people did that & others waited. And then I find this lovely, wonderful post. Serendipity.

    :) Debi

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  68. some peoples' blog posts are easy to breeze over, this one drew me in and i drank down every word. i love the way you write.

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  69. That was a really incredible piece of writing. You took me right there!

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  70. loved this post.

    i too am a sitter.

    i am fascinated as well by watching and listening to people on the plane, a capsule full of people from all walks of life. you never know who you are going to be sitting next to, which can be both unnerving or exiting at the same time.

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  71. a poetic slice of life. very pretty.

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  72. hula, i recently was recommended by a friend to start reading your blog, and it is truly inspiring. all of your lists, your pictures, your words. it is encouraging to know that a life that you are living is possible, an incredibly creative life, an out-of-the-box type of life. thank you for being, and keep on

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