In-Flight Stories

I was in Las Vegas again Wed-Thurs of this week for a sales meeting, and I really can only tolerate that place in very small doses. Fortunately, there was no time to spend in the smoke-filled casinos. It was in and out and back to the airport.

Which brings me to the point of this post. On the last leg of my flight home last night I sat next to someone whom I considered a handsome guy, maybe 30ish. From the eavesdropping I did when he powered up his laptop it appears he is somehow involved in cycling - possibly mountain biking - races. At any rate, I quickly noticed that he must have Tourettes. Luckily there was no shouting of obscenities, but there was plenty of the following:

• jaw stretching
• jerking
• crotch grabbing
• sniffing
• head nodding
• energetic head shaking
• pant pulling
• forehead slapping

I have decided that if I had Tourettes and was squished in tight seating on a plane, I'd spend the entire time apologizing for shaking the seats and hitting my neighbors. Please know that I am in no way making fun of him or his Tourettes, because it's clearly a real disorder and impossible to control. Overall, I felt bad for the guy as he must be exhausted at the end of the day, and tired of having people always giving him sideways glances. In all honesty, it also made it difficult for me to concentrate on writing a proposal, do any work or even read my book, for that matter.

On a separate note, I giggled out loud when I saw a "bubba" in First class wearing a bright green t-shirt that said "Everybody Loves a Big Guy" - and he was definitely a big guy.