Chatting with Strangers

It started at a bar in the airport. After arriving at the airport, only to discover my flight had been delayed, I headed to the bar right next to the gate. I sat down and an older gentleman sat down shortly after. We quickly started commiserating over flight delays and he talked about his family, how he was retired but had just gotten a new opportunity that he was very excited about.   You could tell he had a great love for his family and called his wife a couple of times to update her on his flight status. It just made the time go by fast and I really enjoyed our chat. He had been a salesperson throughout his career, which was not surprising. Chatting with strangers came so easy to him and he was so easy going. I had not even left the airport and had already had a pleasant experience, leaving the travel delay frustrations behind.

Then I was lucky enough to be seated next to this lovely woman who was traveling with her husband to see the birth of their grandchild. While they were traveling together, they were seated apart. I offered to switch seats with her husband so they could sit together but she was like, oh no. It’s fine.   Now I’m not usually a big talker on a plane.  I’m one of those folks who bury their face in a book and while I will be pleasant to the folks seated around me, I do not chat up folks when flying.  I like this to be “me” time. Maybe it’s because I’m semi-retired now and have more “me” time than I used to, but I set my book aside and continued to listen to this woman sitting next to me.   She was a retired special ed teacher, but still works as a substitute teacher from time to time. She is wanting to do something and is trying to figure out what that something is. She talked about her kids, two sons and a daughter and her multiple grandkids. She is lucky both her sons live nearby so she gets to spend a lot of time with them and their kids. She was on her way to see her daughter who is about to give birth to her 3^rd child.   She talked about the tension in her relationship with her daughter and it was obvious this causes her some angst.  She loves her daughter very much and wants to be there for her daughter but isn’t sure exactly how to be there in a way her daughter wants/appreciates.   The distance doesn’t help. Unlike her sons, her daughter lives on the west coast. She talked about what an amazing mother her daughter is, showed me pictures of the boys and  is excited to finally be at the birth of this newest grandchild.  She has missed the birth of the first two as her daughter said it would be most helpful for her to come out after the baby was born. But this time she had re-arranged her travel plans at the last minute to ensure she could be there from the beginning. She was such an interesting woman, and my heart broke for her knowing her relationship with her daughter is weighing on her.

 Just before we landed, she said, “it was so nice talking to you. I am a nervous flyer and talking with you made this flight go by first. In case you can’t tell, I don’t like sitting next to the window, I prefer the aisle.”  I laughed and said, I actually prefer a window seat, but the aisle seat was all that was available. We both laughed at the fact we’d chatted the whole flight and this would have been good information to have shared 3 hours ago, as we could have easily switched seats (we were on a smaller plane with just two seats on each side, so no middle seats).  

As I departed the plane and she caught up with her husband, I wished her well and said have a great time meeting your new grandbaby and then headed to find the gate for my next leg to Anchorage.

I must admit, talking to her brought me some comfort. It was like talking to my own mother. For that brief flight, it was like having great conversation with my mom.

I was waiting outside the airport in Anchorage waiting for the hotel shuttle to take me to the hotel. It was 1:30 in the morning and I was thinking about how exhausted I was, and I couldn’t wait to get to the hotel, take a hot shower and climb into bed.   Then a young boy, who looked like he couldn’t be more than 15, asked me if I was waiting for a shuttle to the Lakefront Anchorage hotel.  I told him yes and he seemed to be relieved he was in the right place.  I told him I thought this is where we were supposed to be but wasn’t 100% sure.  Suddenly we saw the shuttle pulling up and we were both relieved to get on the shuttle. He sat in seat and front of me and asked about my trip. I in turn asked about his, thinking he seemed to be too young to be traveling alone.  Turns out he’s here for a college study program and will be in Alaska for 3 months.  He’s from Bangkok and just exuded positive energy and excitement about he’s upcoming study program.  Such a sweet kid. I saw him the next afternoon sitting in the hotel lobby so went to say hello. It turns out that the company that booked his room booked it for the day of our arrival vs. the day prior. So since we didn’t get to the hotel until almost 2am, they told him he couldn’t check in until 3p in the afternoon.  The poor kid had been in the lobby for 12 hours, waiting to be able to finally check in. He took it all in stride and was the same happy kid I’d met on the shuttle in the wee hours of the morning.  If we could all have this kind of outlook, the world would be a much better place.

 After my amazing first day in Alaska, I sat at the bar with my laptop in the hotel restaurant for a late lunch. My plan was to write about my first day while enjoying a leisurely lunch. Before I even had the chance to complete the first sentence, one of the guys sitting next to me struck up a conversation. After a few minutes, it was clear I wasn’t going to be able to start writing about my day.  I closed my laptop and became fully engaged in our conversation. He was supposed to be heading to the airport to pick up a friend, but his friends flight had been delayed so he stopped by to kill some time. He arrived yesterday and turns out he’s here for 10 days for work.   He used to live in Fairbanks and now lives in Juneau. He’s been to Anchorage many times and gave me some dining recommendations.  He asked me where all I was planning to go and do and told me I would have a great time.  All his brothers and his kids have come out to visit while he’s lived here, and he said they were all blown away by their experience.  We wound up chatting for a couple of hours before the jet lag and the travel delays caught up with me and I knew it was time for a nap!

So, I’ve only been traveling a little over 24 hours and have already met some great people.  I know some of you cynics are saying be careful! And I admit I have a cynical side as well, so when I’m talking to strangers, I’m hesitant to share too many details about myself, where I live, where I’m headed etc., but I choose to focus on the positive of these encounters.