With time to kill, I’m sitting at a seafood restaurant in the Houston airport. I’m reading, sitting quietly while trying to get a meal in before my flight takes off. But Dad 2.0 Summit has, as good conferences are known to do, stimulated my brain to the point of not being able to concentrate.
So I start people watching. Who are my fellow seafood-goers? Why are they in Houston? Where are they going?
Take for instance, the young couple sitting next to me in matching fedoras. Obviously coming back from vacation. They would never have the chutzpah to wear matching hats in their hometown. But where is home? Somewhere cold. He wears a heavy leather jacket, and she wears a bulky, long shawl sweater. It was 70 degrees in Houston today.
What about the older couple next to them? They’re barely talking to each other, which makes me sad. But should it? Does their lack of communication mean that something went wrong in their relationship? After their kids left the house, did they realize they no longer had anything in common? Did they struggle to find common interests? They must be in Houston to visit grandchildren. Are they now only together out of a sense of duty?
Or maybe I am just cynical. Maybe the time spent with their grandchildren was fulfilling but tiring. And now they have a mutual satisfaction that has no need for words.
The man in the overly large, button up white shirt is obviously on a business trip. He desperately checks his BlackBerry, but finds it unfulfilling. He hates his job; would rather be home with his kids. But he’s afraid. With the job market like it is, he thinks there is no opportunity for him.
Scanning the room, I try to find people that radiate some sense of contentment with their lives. Two men at the bar. One with his eye on the game, the other animatedly describing something to him. Different races. Best friends? Coworkers? Lady Gaga fans? She was, after all, playing Houston last night. What if these two have a secret Gaga pact? They’re the only two who know about their mutual obsession, and the thrill of keeping the secret from their office coworkers has made them fast friends.
The older woman sitting directly in front of me, in her 60s. What has compelled her to travel alone? Does she have a sister who is ill? She reminds me so much of my grandmother. Maybe she has a husband who refuses to travel, and she insisted on going to see her grandchildren in a different state. Now that she is here, she seems to be having second thoughts. Can she make the journey alone? Will she be able to navigate the confusing airport, city, culture that she is about to fly in to?
And then there is me. What would someone think about me? Sitting solitary, reading my New Yorker fiction, typing on my MacBook. Geeky glasses. Do they consider me some kind of upper middle class snob? Heading north, by the looks of my sweater and accompanying peacoat. Democrat? Probably.
Definitely not from Houston.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Last night, I was called “an exceptional man” and I thought about other people’s perceptions. I Googled “an exceptional man and found your writing. The woman who called me this has invited me to meet her for the first time. We have been corresponding by email from a singles web site. I will be flying to meet her and time will have connections with airports. And so I can appreciate your observations.
I too have traveled quite a bit and have found myself people watching. In my early years, I made social judgments of others, how they dressed, who they were with, eating junk food or reading a novel by a praised literary writer or even yes, a New Yorker.
These past 12 years have brought me to an understanding that we are all on a journey. We are all going to the same destination, but taking different paths. Along this spiritual highway, some pull off to gas up and keep going, while others will take the mini van filled with children along the scenic route and teach their children to appreciate the view. Others will even take an exit and stop, build a house, open a business, raise a family and will end their lives in that same spot without going further, and that’s OK.
When we learn to watch ourselves watch ourselves, we have placed our consciousness outside of the body and judgment is no longer a concern. In the first step, watching ourselves, we learn to love ourselves and respect all other’s choices, recognizing ourselves as perfect beings which need to be cared for and no one else will ever love us more than the capability that we have to love ourselves. Coming into that reality, we can then look up and observe other, like in an airport. Using the word “Namaste” we can remove egotistically propelled self imposed actions and continue to know that each day we experience, each person we come in contact with , is ourselves giving ourselves the permission to have each experience. Is that priest Catholic or Episcopalian? I he on his way to a conference or looking for others to be kind to him, just because the society calls him a “Man of God?” Is he a child molester or newly ordained? Does it matter? No. It is perfect in our observation. And w are blessed to have that experience to observe.
And finally, to observe ourselves observing ourselves, to place consciousness outside of our bodies, recognizing that the soul (consciousness) has chosen to experience emotion and the only way to do this is from a physical form, is the beginning of our journey, remembering what we truly are, souls having a physical experience and not a body which has a soul. Once we master learning and experiencing all of emotion, then we can say “ENOUGH” and control the way the body produces the chemical reactions which make up our emotion. In that step, just as Jesus learned to do, we then can focus on remembering (re-membering) ourselves as complete, yet a part of God, which is everything that ever was, is and will be. A Pantheonistic view will easily see this in motion,. As the late great Bill Hicks said “It’s all a ride.” How we CHOOSE to live it is just that, our choice.
So next time in an airport, give yourself permission to be “the ultimate observer” and get ready for a ride filled with wonderment and blessings. Namaste.
Wow. Thanks for the (very elaborate) thoughts, Alan. Appreciate it.
Excellent.
I love making up stories at airports.
Have you seen Wonder Boys? Great scenes of story making.
Yes! Great movie.