Thoughts On Flying

There was a time when my divorced parents began earning more capital than ever before.  This was also around the time that they became exhausted of driving me back and forth across the state to see my father once a month.  So they sent 8 year old me on a plane from Asheville to Raleigh with an "Unaccompanied Minor" badge around my neck and off I went to visit my dad for the weekend.  Up in the air, in between both towns was the best, was the best as I belonged to no one and it was just me and the clouds.  There was added bonus of peanuts, ginger ale, and pretty ladies asking what adventures I had planned for the summer that made flying an absolute pleasure.

Now that 911 happened, it's not that much fun at all.  In fact, most people seem to just go ahead and furrow their brows as they pass through the security gates ready for delayed flights, noisy babies, and peanuts for which you now have to pay.  But the people watching is still excellent, and there is still the exciting prospect of new glossy magazines, and if you have the money you can grab a burger and a beer while you wait for your flight which has already been delayed three times. 

The number one thing that inevitably goes through my head when I fly is of a Wired magazine cover I saw several years ago.  It showed a very dashing photo of Brad Pitt wearing a BlueTooth earpiece with the headline, “If Brad Pitt can’t make this look sexy then who can?”  (It's in the small print.)  As I watch all the paunch-bellied businessmen clutching their briefcase and rushing to their gate, while seemingly talking to themselves with their earpieces, I really want to show them this magazine cover.  Sometimes people just never grow out of their awkward phase.