Fear of flying and flukes

June 14, 2006
I used to enjoy meeting my airline seat companions. I’ve been known for making friendships that last for years in those hours crossing an ocean. Now I’ve grown old and introverted and like my peace and generally ignore that stranger sitting next to me unless they start up a conversation. On the flight to Germany from Saudi, however, I sat next to 14 year old Saudi boy traveling by himself and felt a little sorry for him. He had traveled a lot but not by himself and the take-offs and landings always made him nervous, so I felt it my duty to get him through those with ease. My only idea was to talk or get him to talk. I found out a lot about him this way and he seemed like a real gem of a kid- he likes Americans, after all. Couldn’t be that bad. Spoke English fluently and had only been studying it for 3 years. He even knew what the word “fluke” meant when I told him it was a fluke that I won an office pool once in Bosnia, betting on the World Cup. It wasn’t actually a fluke, as I used the LuAnne-method of betting on the team with the cutest guy. In that particular case it was France...and they won. But I digress…

I must have made an impression on Qasim as he wanted me to sign one of the Lufthansa postcards for him and asked for my email address. It would actually be nice to keep in touch since I don’t know any Saudi families and I’ve lived in Saudi Arabia for almost a year.