People Watching

(Written at 12:30 pm while I was in the air)

Recently, I have spent a fair amount of time in airports. When reviewing 2011, I think it’s only January and February that I didn’t fly somewhere. Birthday celebrations, a wedding, a graduation, a stage debut and our anniversary have gotten us on a plane this year. Unfortunately, the current trip I’m on has nothing of the celebratory air of the other trips. I am headed to Houston to see if there is anything I can do to help my mother and aunt after the devastating loss of their house and all their belongings in Magnolia due to fires that are still not under control. However, I am continuing to focus on the fact that these two older ladies were SAFELY evacuated – it’s all that really matters.

Anyway, while I was sitting at LAX waiting to find out how long my connecting flight was to be delayed, I settled in for a relaxing session of people watching. I love watching families with babies in tow. It’s funny to watch young mommies and daddies trying to tire their toddlers out before they are contained in the plane. It’s also interesting to see how they manage all the baby paraphernalia they have brought with them for baby’s comfort and their convenience. Baby carriers and strollers have gotten quite sophisticated since the days when I had babies myself. Many things have changed since my early days of flying.

For instance, everyone has a cell phone now. In the airport, there are usually several people with their power cords huddled around electrical outlets charging their phones while they are between flights. Many people have iPads and laptops and some airports offer Wifi, leather chairs and desk areas to accommodate internet users. I brought my laptop with me as well and am writing this blog post while thousands of feet in the air. Times really have changed.

So while I was waiting to get on the plane, I observed quite a few very interesting people. First was a slim, fit looking woman around my age, (late 40’s – early 50’s). She was neatly groomed and casually dressed. What was different about her was what she was doing in the airport. There she stood just 50 feet from the gate and she was exercising with a theraband. For those of you who don’t know, a theraband is a 6 inch wide strip of elastic rubber sheeting that you can find at physical therapy clinics. It helps the person using it by offering resistence according to different exercises attempted. So here was this nice looking, middle-aged woman in the middle of the airport with one end of the pink theraband (it happened to match her outfit!) under her left foot, while she pulled the other end with her left hand doing bicep curls. After several repetitions, she put the band under her right foot and did bicep curls with her right hand! That’s some dedication to physical fitness!

Next my attention was drawn rather abruptly to a couple to my right who were having a very difficult conversation. She was sobbing loudly and asking the man with her to hold her. He was doing everything he could to make himself disappear, but it wasn’t working. I felt guilty to be witnessing something so private, but the young woman didn’t seem to care who could see or hear her. The man spoke to her in a low voice seeming to try to calm her down. Finally, he tried to put his arm around her. By that time, she wasn’t having it! She shouted at  him, “ you couldn’t hold me when I asked you to, so now JUST. DON’T. TOUCH. ME!” He slunk down in his seat, pulled his cap low and covered his face with his hands. Perfect time to stretch my legs and make one last trip to the restroom. I don’t know what he did to her and she was the one crying, but I felt more sorry for him. Poor guy.