I’m in hour four of the Delta SkyClub in the Atlanta airport. I have two more hours to go. I’ve eaten two dozen carrot sticks, a couple servings of some sort of mustard chicken thing, a pile of pita chips and so many small cubes of cheese that tomorrow should worry me. And some chardonnay. I’m not sure how much. Enough that the bartender sees me coming and begins pouring me a new glass.
My wife is with me. She’s now retired and is able to join me in my travels to interesting places. We’re returning from Monterey, California where the weather was a merciful 65 degrees each day. We wandered around a lot, she shopped one day while I wandered the streets of Carmel with a cigar, getting horrific anti-tobacco looks from Californians and spent half a day on a whale watching tour where we saw a bumper crop of humpbacks and watched up close while four orcas stalked a pod of dolphins and killed one and ate it in front of us. Everyone loves orcas, and everyone loves dolphins, but watching the former kill and eat the latter is a tough scene. I didn’t know who to cheer for - the Orca mother who was teaching her babies how to hunt or Flipper. Flipper did his best, by the way. He deserves credit for the fight.
Anyway, like I said, my wife is with me. She and I have talked for years of traveling some day, and it’s finally that someday. Weekends are full of travel for the next many weeks and she’s joining me on a work trip to Vietnam in December. "It’s happening," we’re telling each other. The travel we’ve always dreamed of is finally happening, which may sound good until I remind you I’m in hour four at the Atlanta airport. Our connecting flight where we were going standby left – get this! – EARLY. We would have made it, but it left early. If you’re a passenger on that plane, you’re digging the plane leaving early. If you’re doing hustle-shuffle walk-run through the airport lugging a two-ton shoulder bag to make the connection, you’re furious. Wait, I thought we had a reservation. Since when do planes leave early? When did that become a thing? The same thing happened to my wife and her buddies last weekend. They missed their plane home because it left early, and they had to rent a car and drive. Being in places like Monterey is wonderful, but getting to and from Monterey is not fun. Thankfully, my wife and I have this Sky Club lounge, carrot sticks, and a bartender who starts the pour when he sees my face. It makes it all tolerable.
I can’t help but think about Flipper. Four orcas, no exit, but he fought and made them earn it. Maybe that's Lisa and me, each of us hauling two-ton bags to a gate for a plane that’s already gone. We lost, but here we are, and that some day's finally happening. Flipper did his best. So will we.
I'm Cam Marston, and I'm just trying to Keep It Real.
