December 28, 2004

The Conversationalist

I am one of those people who will talk to anyone. Standing in line at Best Buy, getting on a plane, getting off a plane, waiting to get on a plane. You get the idea. I’m not obnoxious about it because I know not everyone is a talker. I don’t badger you to speak to me. Most people, however, will reply, even if it’s to let me know that they do not wish me to speak to them again. If you completely ignore me, however, then that’s something all together different.

After running to get on the plane in Dallas (ice in Dallas delayed my leaving Jackson by two hours) I sat next to a really pretty girl who was busy reading. It took me a few minutes to catch my breath and get my shit together. I said, “I’ll stop fidgeting around in just a minute.” She said nothing. Didn’t even look up. Hmm…

Me: Are you heading home to Denver?
Her: silence
Me: (waits a few more minutes) Boy, I wish we’d take off already.
Her: silence
Me: (Hmm…wonder if she’s deaf?)
Her: silence
Me: Habla español?
Her: silence
Me: Parlez-vous français?
Her: silence
Me: (I don’t see a hearing aid. Must be shy.)
Me: Parlate italiano?
Her: silence
Me: (Wait…she’s reading a book in English. What the hell?)
Her: silence
Me: Sprechen Sie Deutsches?
Her: silence
Me: Você fala o português?
Her: cuts her eyes towards me.
Me: (YES! I’m making progress)
Her: More silence
Me: Hal tatakalam Arabi?
Her: (Slowly turns her head and stares at me)
Me: (Smiles really big)
Her: If you’re going to do this the entire flight, I’m going to change seats.
Me: So you DO speak English. Cool
Her: Stewardess!

Comments

I once said hello to the man who had just sat down next to me on the plane and he immediately pulled a credit card out of his pocket, called the attendant and asked to be moved to first class. All I had said was "hello"

Posted at December 29, 2004 08:09 AM

Some people seem to check their personalities at the gate along with their oversized carry-ons. It's like they develop this rabid fear of having to talk to someone, especially if they're attractive. Looks like you were unlucky enough to sit next to their queen. (I would have loved to have seen that exchange in person, however!) :)

Posted at December 29, 2004 12:22 PM

Man, what a loser she is. I chatted with people along my travels this holiday too. My favorite was a girl I flew with last night. Our flight was taking off about half an hour late, which was going to make my connection really tight, and I was nervous about it. (Especially because I pooped up my flight down there so badly.) My dad said, "If you miss it, there will be other flights to New York." "Not at 10 at night there won't," I said. Anyway, this girl was sitting in the row in front of me and she was talking on her phone about possibly missing a connection too. I asked her if she was by any chance going to New York. She was. We chatted about how annoyed we were. The bathroom on the plane was not working and someone had gotten off to use the bathroom inside the terminal. "Couldn't you hold it?" we asked ourselves while she was gone. When she got back on the plane, we saw she was a pregnant woman, and we felt bad for wanting her to rush. When we got to our connecting airport, this girl Lauren and I started running. We both said that if we weren't together, we probably wouldn't have gotten there as fast as we did, motivating each other as we were going. Anyway, we got to our plane at about 10 minutes before departure time -- AND THAT FLIGHT WAS DELAYED TOO. We ran for nothing. :P We waited for our bags together at La Guardia and wished each other happy New Year.

And I have just left the lonest comment ever.

Posted at December 30, 2004 11:53 AM