Monday, June 27, 2005

All Flights Lead to Atlanta (Part 2)

Gary and I have finished our great weekend - our feet are tired and legs are sore from all the walking around the parks - so it feels good to just sit and wait in the airport for our flights out, with nothing to do but read the paper.

His flight leaves before mine does, so he cut out early. We have been parked in the middle of a Food Court area in the Orlando airport, and I was comfortably ensconced on a couch for the next few hours before going through security.

Then she walks up.

Maybe mid-40's, with the face you can tell was used to the corporate world - but also the pitfalls and perils of mommy-hood. Tall, leggy, blond with a knee-length black skirt, she hustled up to my couch area and asked, breathlessly, "Do you mind if I leave my suitcase here while I get something to eat? Can you keep an eye on it?"

I know I was gawking - not because she's necessarily drop-dead gorgeous (I think she probably was at one time) - but because she just came up out of the blue and startled me. And me, being the perfect gentleman that I am ran her through my typical terrorist filter....Drooling savage? No. Ranting madman? No. Shifty ne'er-do-well? No, she looks clean. So I intelligently stutter out, "Sure..yeah, no problem."

She smiles gratefully, parks her rolling suitcase (carryon size) and a big maroon pillow on the couch next to me and hurries off. For the next several minutes I alternated reading my paper, looking around to see if she was on her way back, and glancing warily at the suitcase wondering how bad it's going to hurt when it explodes..

Finally, she returns - a little less breathless - with a plate of some noxious Chinese food (sorry, to me all Chinese food is noxious). She sees all is well with her luggage and that I'm not an itinerant thief. "Wow," she exclaims, "What a day. Can I---?"

I smiled and indicated for her to sit at the chair on the other side of the small coffee table in front of me, "Please, have a seat." She smiled again gratefully, and relaxed with the tray sitting on the table.

Ok, I have to know what's up with this so I attempt to engage in polite conversation. "So, where are you headed?"

In between bites she says, "Frankfort."

"Oh, Kentucky?"

"No, Germany."

Way to go, goofball...

Apparently in the confusion of leaving home in Orlando today and getting to the airport, she'd forgotten her passport, missed her flight to Germany and was now awaiting a late evening flight to Atlanta, an overnight stay and new flight from there in the morning.

We chatted about that for a few minutes, and I waited for her to ask where I was headed. She didn't. Ok, well, nice knowing you, too.

While I continued to read the paper she ate, talked on her cell phone and attempted to nap. Eventually it was time for me to head through security - she suddenly got a craving for Krispy Kremes and said goodbye.

Wow, two planes that pass in the night, and we weren't even in the same airspace. Have a nice trip, Frankfort Lady. What do you bet she ended up in Kentucky?

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