Thursday, June 18, 2015

Keeping a low profile



Well, there is a tropical storm that is supposed to hit Austin this morning, so that made me sort of hesitate a bit to travel “pretty”. Getting stranded in an airport with the ticking time bomb of facial hair that is going to grow noticeable sooner or later is not a fun thing to do. Still, it didn't look like the worst of it was supposed to strike until well after my flight was scheduled to leave, so I went ahead and took the plunge.

As I was driving into the airport, I was passed by four different police cars that were all leaving the airport with their lights flashing and their sirens on, and so I had to wonder what the heck that was all about. I never did find out.

On my flight from Austin to DFW, there was an elderly man and woman seated directly in front of me. The gentleman was clearly in bad medical condition and couldn't make it to the back of the plane where his assigned seat was, so the flight attendant told them to just take two seats in the first row of coach. They took the aisle seat for him since they had to just about lift him into the seat, and she took the middle seat next to him. The boarding process was almost complete when a man I would guess to be in his mid 50's shows up with another flight attendant in tow. 

"Excuse me, but I think you have this gentleman's seat." She says to the old man.
"Would he mind taking the window seat so that we don't have to move my husband again?" Replied the man’s wife. She had a smile on her face, confident that her request was reasonable and that no one but a pure asshole would decline to sit two seats over from his assigned seat. Well, she was wrong, because after a brief conversation between the man who had been assigned that seat and the flight attendant, she turned back to the couple.
"I'm sorry, but he does mind, and he did pay a premium fee for this seat, so I'm afraid that I am going to have to ask you to move."  The poor flight attendant looked like she wanted to crawl under a rock and hide, but she didn't have much choice in the matter. You could clearly hear several people sitting in the area gasp with surprise as she conveyed the assholes wishes. We were all shocked that this guy would force a frail and sick old man to move. I sat there watching the poor flight attendant and the old mans wife literally pick him up, one on each side, and lift him over and into the next seat. I'm pretty sure that I wasn't the only one glaring at the asshole that had refused to change seats. It turns out that this couple was also going all of the way to Minneapolis, and so we sat in the gate area talking about the jerk while we waited for our connecting flight.

When I arrived in Minneapolis, I made my way to the baggage claim to get my huge suitcase and toolbox. Much to my surprise, a woman stepped out into the walk way directly into my path, forcing me to come to a stop.
“I just had to tell you that I think your outfit is adorable!” she said with a kind and sincere smile.
“Well thank you so much!” I replied, and gave her my best smile. To be honest, I consider this to be a bit of a back handed compliment. Women don’t step out and block each others paths just to complement their outfit. Now if you were standing around waiting in line or something, you might well make such a comment, but to step out and stop a complete stranger walking down a hallway just to complement their outfit is just not something that women do to each other. The unsaid and complete message she was giving was “Gee, you sure look pretty for a man!”  At this point, I know there are going to be half a dozen stories shared in the comments of this blog with people trying to tell me that I am wrong, but save your breath, because I never have and never will get in the habit of deluding myself. In the end it really doesn’t matter much to me, as she gave a kind compliment and gave me smile. Thank you lady, I appreciate that!

I guess that the angle of the baggage claim belt and the orientation of my box was just perfect to allow most of the weight of my tool box to rest on its wheels, because that puppy came rolling loudly down the ramp at flank speed, making a most impressive noise as it rolled over the metal belt material at high velocity. It was making so much racket, and going so fast down the ramp, that the people gathered around the bottom of the belt waiting for their own baggage all backed away in a near panic!
“ZzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZIIIIIIIIPPPPPPP!  WHAM!”
My fifty pound tool box hit the rubber padding at the bottom of the ramp and then momentarily threatened to flip over the side of the rail before falling back down with another fairly impressive “WHAM!”  I swear I am not exaggerating – at least three people gasped in alarm when it struck. While everyone else was laughing and talking about the rogue tool box, I was turning several shades of red while lifting the topic of their amusement up and off of the belt.
“Yep, there’s nothing like keeping a low profile!” I thought to myself . . .

8 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Kim i must admit if nothing more your blog entries certainly provide interesting if not humorist reading :-)

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  3. Hi Kimberly,

    Congratulations on discovering a way to make air travel interesting. 8-)
    I must also say that although your posts are quite long, they are a good read!

    And don't worry about the lady and the 'compliment'. People are complicated and we all fail to get it right some of the time. It could be that she decided on the spur of the moment to be nice to you to show that she was ok with it, just as some men (fortunately rarely) feel that they have to show that they have 'read' you.
    All the best,
    Penny

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  4. Kim -

    When someone walks, etc. out of her way to pay a compliment, I'd agree with your assumption. It's when they see something up close (such as nail polish) that I think the comment is realistic.

    M

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  5. Hey Lady!!! What's shakin'? I wanted to check in with you. I just read that post….and sorry, I gotta disagree. I stop people all the time when I love their outfit,or their look. My husband finds it annoying especially when I make a point of stopping them. I don't do it to men that often, particularly men over 40 because they'll think it's a come on, and I never do it to men under 40 because it'll look like the most pathetic of come ons, but occasionally I'll even stop men. My favorite incident was a Saturday morning working at a training center. Another class was going on down the hall and I saw a man through the window wearing a hat that I can only (poorly) describe as a cross between a fedora and a stetson. He was black, which added more allure in my opinion because most white guys can't pull off a look like that and he wore a kind of tweed blazer which I would not have ordinarily thought of pairing with said hat. I left my classroom to meet him in the foyer to tell him how fabulous he looked. He warmly (and thankfully not sensuously because then the interaction would have become creepy) hugged me, and said, "Thank you baby. You just made my day."

    I also want to know when you think you'll be in the DC Metropolitan area, and/or the Richmond area? I really would love to meet you. A girls night out would be fantastic!! Seriously, I just can't picture you as a man. Your pictures always have that fabulous pretty and polished look. You scream "savvy businesswoman with flair" and your legs are to die for too. I get what you're saying about people seeing you "up close"-but that's true for all of us aging women!!! Personally, I think you're incredibly pretty and I want to meet up and buy you dinner. If you want to correspond, I'm at openarms2lgbt@gmail.com. Safe travels-Pam

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    1. Awe . . . you just made my day. Thank you!
      Odds are good that I will be back in the VA area from time to time, but my son and his family are now stationed there. If I get anywhere close to them, I'll probably going to visit with them, and it would have to be as "Dad" and "Grandpa" lol
      Have to say though that I love reading your blog and would be delighted to meet you if I ever get the chance. :)

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  6. Oh dear. I frequently stop men and compliment them. They think it's a come-on. They might be right. Women, now? I don't stop them. They'd think it was a come-on, and they'd be wrong. I can't have women thinking I'm straight, no sirree!

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  7. I just came across to reading your blog it serve very useful information about the interiors thank u
    become a travel agent

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