Everyday Canvas

On the Plane

Prompt: The person sitting next to you on the plane is very talkative. Do you try to switch seats or make this person your new best friend?

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I guess that would depend on my mood at the time. Most of the time, nowadays, people just say hi and play with their electronic gadgets. I prefer to read in the planes, so I am not the one to start any conversation.

If the person sitting next to me starts the conversation, that’s another story. My history would show that I yakked together with him or her, once upon a time when I traveled a lot, and mostly alone, even in long distance flights to the West Coast or to Europe. Those days were different times, too, and we were all more trusting. The talkative one would be usually a woman, but also, a couple a men were very talkative, too. I have been, in general, protective of my privacy, and even if the other person asked questions as to who, what, where, when of my life story, I answered in a minimal way or just waved it off and steered the conversation to generalities, like the weather or the cities we’re traveling to, etc. So there was no danger of me getting a new best friend. Just a temporary traveling companion.

Having said so, I have to add that I met the most interesting people on the planes, too. Most of those were not interested in my life story, but in relating theirs. As they were fodder for the writer or eye-openers, I welcomed them. For a person who traveled on a plane several times a season, I haven’t been on one since last year and before that in 2008. The older I got, the more stay-at-home I turned out to be, which is good, too, and much less tiring.