My Encounter with Boing

I'm afraid of heights. I'm also claustrophobic. Sometimes I get paranoid about germs when I'm in small spaces with strangers. People, as much as I love them, weird me out.

With all the above in mind, flying on a plane isn't exactly my idea of a great time. Planes make me nervous, yes. But it's usually the people that are IN the planes that make me more nervous. With the warm weather and sun of Texas in front of us and the anticipation of seeing some old friends, Paul and I were both really looking forward to our trip to Austin this past weekend. It was the first time we had been away without the kids, without an agenda from work, for over 3 years. It was something we both definitely needed.

When I finally nestled myself into my aisle seat on my first flight and I adjusted my level of nerves to the seemingly insufficient amount of clean, breathable oxygen on the aircraft, I closed my eyes for a brief moment before becoming aware of the awkward nature of the man sitting across the aisle from me. He seemed a little fidgety, which I can somewhat understand. But what caught my attention more was the fact that he seemed to have purposely resurrected a few worn business cards from his small briefcase. I had a certain sense to what was about to unfold. It didn't take me long to notice the circus horses and clown on his ball cap that matched the business card he was holding. Without looking, I could sense his shifting eyes begging me to ask him for one.

I tried my hardest to avoid his pupils, but I apparently was unsuccessful because it was in no time that his business card was in my hands and we were carrying on a conversation for almost the entire 2 hour flight to Houston. He was a clown. Literally. Without his makeup on, he was traveling to a conference. I dunno, I suppose the clown kind. He managed to whip out a small balloon to make a blue squeaky poodle for the three year old sitting in front of him. Yeah, that was a nice sound to listen to in flight. He offered a few jokes in between random stories he told me about his past and present life. His thumbs were small and that kind of made me giggle without him knowing it. He was a very nice and kind man, fun and easy to talk to and gave us some good laughs and entertainment while on the plane.

Once the landing gear came down and the passengers emerged from the circulated breath that we were so kindly pressurized in for our convenience and comfort, we departed ways and he was never to be seen again. It's a good thing I managed to get his business card, huh? You never know when I may have to call in a clown from out of state and get some good entertainment.