flight details

i got to the airport and this time didn't leave my computer in the taxi
checked in for the flight and went to the waiting gate
i overheard tourists telling other tourists what towns they saw
listing off names of places, nothing about what was there
the others listened and nodded approvingly
been there, been there, okay, okay

the lobby restroom is designed so that when i am standing there peeing at a row of urinals i look over my shoulder and see the entire lobby looking back at me

the coffee bar from hell was up and running barely
it only stays open because there is no competition
a kid could open a lemonade stand and wipe them out

i walked around back to use the restroom a second time
this time the womans door is on the right and i'm standing there on the inside, but my invisibility shield was activated cause i stepped back out unnoticed
i guess they were all busy

back at the gate a lady walked by panning around doing a thousand dollar narration into her four dollar camera saying things like, "here is the lobby, you can see all the people"

oh welcome delight, they called us to board early so three hundred people were cramming and making a jam of it to get in front of the others in the line
then after about five minutes of shoving
someone changed their mind and said would you please sit down again and we'll board at our regular time instead

then i saw an old schoolmate
my god, i didn't know whether to laugh or cry
the memories came flooding over me
the sock hops, the heartaches, the laughter
nearly in tears, the years
then i saw it wasn't her and felt relieved
one less thing to do

then they called for zone one to board
after they called zone two and three i checked
i was zone one

why can't people board the airplane and sit down? what is so tough? it's like beavers caught in an ice jam... no, i am sure beavers would do it quicker
a lady stopped in front of me and took five minutes to slowly load her overhead compartment
when she finished she turned to me and said thanks
as she let me pass
i went by her wondering why thank me?
what were my choices?

i noticed at 36 thousand feet the restrooms become a lavatory
which may relate to the fact that the higher you fly
the faster you go

over the alps a jet below us going the same way an increasingly shorter distance below us
was anyone aware?
i was ready to jump up and run tell someone, maybe the guy in the seat behind me, i guess you can't get to the pilot easily these days, maybe it was a lack of sleep that had me alerted for disaster, or maybe it was the three airplane disaster movies on tv the week before my flight
airport one and two and the jet with the pointy nose
the names aren't important

hungry i am prepared, brought the cookies she said to buy
i should have paid more attention to how she opens them at home
struggled and finally started looking for something sharp after nearly rolling on the floor i used her sewing thing i carried and they didn't take away from me

i had carrot sticks my wife cut a week before
i ate a pound of carrots but didn't eat them all and had to surrender the last three sticks and a ziplock bag in philly
they marked my card and put me though a special security check cause i admitted i was carrying an apple
they took it
but let me into the country