I recently went down to San Antonio for work and realized a passion of mine that I haven't experienced in awhile: talking to the people next to you on a plane. I only started doing it once I started college because I was such a wallflower in high school you had to force me to talk to someone back then.
Its refreshing to start up a conversation with a complete stranger. Everyone has their own story and whether they like to admit it or not, they love talking about it. You find out where they are from, where they are traveling to and before you know it they are telling you about their 3 kids back home and how they need to find a perfect present for them.
One time I was on a plane to Orlando and I was working on a research paper on airline crashes. I had a book open with graphic pictures and a case report of the latest aircraft accident on my lap. The elderly gentleman sitting next to me said 'Miss, you may want to be careful who you show that to on this plane, I think there are some first timers on board'. Oops. I was so engrossed in my reading to even think that he may have a fear of flying so I quickly apologized and started packing up. He told me not to worry because he was a skydiver from Australia and had jumped out of over 4,000 airplanes. He was never worried about them crashing because he could always just jump out of them if they did. That sparked a long conversation about my education and where I planned on taking it and he offered some great advice. I still have his business card and I swear one of these days I am going to go Australia to skydive with him.
This past week I sat in between two good sized men on the way to San Antonio. I was tired and cranky and the last thing I wanted to do was become a sardine on the tin can of Continental Airlines (the song "Stuck in the Middle with You" kept playing on loop in my head). Well the guy to my right, who looked liked Lou Ferigno and Jack LaLaine's lovechild, started talking to me about where I was going and why I was going there. Turns out he owns the largest chain of fitness centers in Arkansas and was on his way to meet with some investors. The guy to my left as it turns out was a fuel salesmen going to the same conference as me. He gave me a rundown of what the conference would entail and also some pointers about where to go after the 'work' was over. We all exchanged business cards and I ended up finding Eric the fuel salesmen at the conference and said hi. Had I just put on my iPod and fell asleep on the plane like I had originally planned I would have missed out on Lou Ferigno Sr giving me running tips and my new friend at the NBAA conference.
Trust me, if you are faced with the option of talking to your neighbor or just putting on your headphones, I highly suggest talking. You never know who you might meet.
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