another stereotypical rant about air travel

<>I must be getting used to this. I have A seating assignment from Southwest, I actually leave later for the airport leave school at 4:15 but am still through security at midway by 5:10. I don’t queue up immediately but find a seat where I can read a piece by a writing grad at the world’s greatest art school – think that the visual artists are a sad lot think of writers who couldn’t find a real writing programme – and my book of strange tales from the late Ming dynasty. Even as the plane is to be late but don’t worry as people start queuing up in that southwest way that resembles a single file camp fire. I endure the two women who sit between another person and me both of us reading – they did ask if the seats were taken – then start to talk as loudly as possible why elbow wrestling me for the armrest.

But I am in a great frame of mind – surprisingly – the place is crowded but I have my reading materials. I thought that I had brought the wrong camera with me as I wanted t do a Winogrand and wander the airport thinking that all the delayed passengers would make good film fodder. I forgot that now that everything is portable one takes everything. The camera bag is too heavy to try to make snaps and manoeuvre about the place.

<>Still I am as happy as a clam. I am in full Wisconsin mode.

My mistake, I finally get into the queue and the person behind me starts chatting, I answer, act interested listen, all the proper things to do.

The queue starts moving we go silent I think of whether I want aisle or row as the plane is going to be empty. My strategy is to head for the back people will want to leave quickly and thus tend to sit near the front - I go six seats from the rear - which I equate to heading north through Maine for the New Brunswick border when everyone else is in Portland – take a window and relax.

The bloke in the queue is right behind me. Puts his bags in the over head compartment and for a moment my fears are not valid as he begins to sit in the seat behind me.

<>Then second thoughts.
-if I sit on the aisle no one will sit in the middle.

Now I have to put up that barrier, we will have to negotiate the middle seat tray and from time to time be interrupted by chatting. I think that silence is a sin in the States.

It could be worse, the perfume of the woman behind me could be even more overpowering.