So, here I am… at LAX airport… on my way to Chicago. The red van that picked me up this morning was on time… 5:00 AM. It was still dark outside…weird.
I met two women inside the van. They were on their way to Dallas Ft. Worth. I didn’t get their names but had some great conversation. The two women didn’t know each other prior to this shared ride. One of them was pretty quiet… seemed lonely. The only thing she really said was that with the time change, it was difficult because she’s alone. She said her husband used to always be the one to change all the clocks and now that he was gone, she has to do it herself. I’m figuring he must’ve died recently.
The other woman was the more talkative. I asked her why she was going to Dallas. She said that it wasn’t her final destination. She was on her way to Arkansas for a training session. She worked for the Red Cross in disaster care for children. Totally admirable. Apparently, she travels frequently to disaster areas to help provide emotional and spiritual care for children as well as day care. These children either lost their parents, their home, or their parents are working and their schools are closed so they need a place to go while their parents are at work. She seemed incredibly passionate about what she does. She found it ironic that Southern California is close to a disaster mode right now due to all of the fires….and here she is going out of town for training. 800 homes have been destroyed so far from all of these fires. I guess she will be brought back here if things get worse.
The drive was easy… no traffic. We made it here in about 40 minutes. I’m glad I got here early because it was insanely busy. A lot of flights were cancelled last night because of the fires. Not many planes were able to fly into LAX. I got a call last night that my flight was cancelled. I had a 7:00 AM nonstop flight arriving in Chicago at 1:00 PM. They rescheduled me on an 8:00 AM flight that gets in at 2:00 PM. Not bad….I won’t have as much time to relax at the hotel now but that is ok.
I met another cool person waiting in the huge line to check in. I couldn’t quite figure out at first if it was a man or a woman… but the more we spoke, I knew it was a man. I felt bad after the skycap said “Here is your boarding pass Mam.”
He was short… about my height….with dreads….no facial hair, of course. He had jeans and a pink long sleeve shirt on, a pretty feminine face, a voice that was more on the female sounding side, and earrings. He was standing behind me outside when I was checking my luggage. He was carrying the latest Harry Potter book… so I struck up conversation. What part are you at? Do you like it? etc….
Next thing I knew, he was standing behind me at the line inside as well. There was small talk… wow, look at this line. It’s super busy here this morning. They need more people behind the counter.. blah blah blah.
…and then he recognized another guy in line. The guy called him Elan. Not sure about the spelling but that is what it sounds like. They talked for a while… he said he had a gig to go to in St. Louis. After they were done talking and it was silent, I decided to ask about the gig. He said he had a show to do. SEE! I knew it.
What show?
5 Guys Named Moe.
Oh, I love that show! I saw it years ago at La Mirada Civic Light Opera. It was probably about ten years ago!
It was nine… and you saw me do it.
Hee hee heeeee. How random is that?
I’m sure you can guess what ensued after that.
How long have you been performing? Oh, you lived in NY too? I hated auditioning too… it was always nice when someone called you up to do a show you’ve done before. Oh, you know her? Did you see her do that show…. Yah, I know I look like the girl in Mamma Mia…
It was pretty funny. Definitely helped pass the time. Now, I’m sitting here, plugged into my laptop… listening to Lizz Wright, my favorite new jazz artist. She is amazing. Go get her cd, Salt. It is flawless.
Need to take my drugs soon. I don’t really enjoy flying. I get all freaked out. I like getting on a plane, closing my eyes, and opening them when I’m there! That is a good flight. It’s 7:01 now. I’ll probably be boarding in a half hour or so.
Wish me good flying thoughts!
Posted by Jenny at October 27, 2003 03:18 PM