(required listening: Frank Ocean – Wither)
Twice delayed flights.
First solo vacation in years.
No set plans.
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So much I could reflect on, to introspect.
But how about:
Green + White Louis Vuitton Sneakers.
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More specifically, the comfortably poised woman in them.
Curling brown-blonde hair reposed on a slightly baggy, black sweatsuit interspersed with a number of contrasted large printed florals. All complements to her attentive demeanor.
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My aisle-mate was meticulously wiping down her seat, as was I. Both just trying to get settled for the long-haul to London.
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The flight attendants a little less tranquilly voiced their frustrations with boarding guests.
A first-class bag fell.
Or was thrown.
The details and reasons were not reasonably apparent.
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My aisle-mate leaned in with a light-British accent,
“It seems they’ve forgotten we’re their customers.”
We both chuckled at the absurdity of the situation.
I retorted something. i only remember being surprised at how uncharacteristically boisterous my American accent was in comparison.
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i’m probably overthinking it.
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She asked the flight attendant a question before take-off. He sharply brushed her off to get to his seat. I may have reactively asked him what his problem was with an expletive sprinkled in.
I surprised myself.
I’d become instinctively protective of my new acquaintance.
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We were on similar wavelengths.
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i think
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She immediately picked-up on my apparent discomfort when my seat-mate went on a prolonged coughing fit. She lightheartedly encouraged me to just go with it. That levity felt familiar.
We both lamented the service. I mentioned how on my previous flight the pilots slammed the wheels on the ground. i tried nervously to reassure that this flight would be different after reading the discomfort on her face. I wasn’t very convincing. I admitted as such. We both laughed softly.
She said she flies a lot. She took a picture of my seat-mate on his laptop during take-off when the attendants should have required it to be stowed. She said she was going to file a complaint. I encouraged her to do so.
i hope she did.
i didn’t follow-up.
She mentioned that the Gucci bag the flight attendant repeatedly slammed while attempting to close the overhead bin above me was hers. I scoffed in socially acceptable outrage, leaving the door open to collectively elegize the former pristine state of her status symbol if she desired.
She didn’t take it.
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Instead, she shrugged it off. “[As long as we land safely].”
I admired that. she seemed genuine. that seemed different
It’s rare to come across a kindred spirit at all, much less at the start of a nine-hour flight.
We landed having barely spoken a word to each other for the duration of the flight.
After take-off, she went to her movies. I, to being lost in thought as i’m apt to do. Periodically blacking out from years of pent-up exhaustion.
We occasionally mirrored each other during the trip. We both got into discussions with attendants about whether there was meat in the meals. We both chose vegetarian.
She ordered vodka. I got scotch.
At one point, I wordlessly offered to hold her food tray while she readjusted her tray-table and seat. She obliged and thanked me. I smiled and nodded.
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As we prepared to disembark, i asked if she was heading home. She didn’t hear me. i didn’t press it.
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I asked if her Gucci bag was intact as she gathered it. She remarked it was. I smiled and said something I can’t recall. We may have laughed a last time. She wished me a good trip. i responded in kind, not loud enough for her to hear.
She deplaned
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I walked off the plane, navigating the maze of Heathrow. Shuffling from immigration to corridor, corridor to stairwell, stairwell to line, line to bus, bus to terminal, terminal to escalator to escalator to escalator to esclator to crowded gate.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ In impersonal masses of people dodging and pressing each other to shop or sit or eat or cry or queue or complain.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Collectively’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘in a brief intermission of our lives but all distanced and estranged from each other. Our tethers as tenuous as our immediate utility to our immediate neighbor.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ In the middle of the tangle I stopped and closed my eyes’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ memorializing a pair of Green + White Louis Vuitton Sneakers’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ” ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ” ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ” ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
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I should have asked more about them.