Unpacked: A Walker Returns Home

Music for this week: It ain’t Me Babe, sung by Johnny Cash and June Carter.

Chan and I recently saw the movie Walk the Line, about Johnny Cash. Besides enjoying the music, we were amazed that a true story about a musician could have such a happy ending! Click Here to listen. (It’s YouTube, so we’re on an honor system here: Listen to the music, but keep reading, too!)
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The following stories are true. They took place on a mini-trip I took last week, to a buddy’s wedding in California:

Story #1- I am on the airplane from New York to LA. An hour into the flight, a stewardess makes an announcement: “I’m sorry, but the in-flight movie system is broken. We will therefore not be showing a movie this flight. Our deepest apologies.”

Ok, so no movie.

Roughly half an hour later, she comes back: “I’ve got good news and bad news, folks: The good news is that I fixed the movie system. The bad news is that we won’t show the movie we had planned to show. But that movie wasn’t good anyway, so don’t worry.”

The stewardess finished her announcement with, “When I pass you by in the aisle, you can feel free to tell me how good I am.”

Story #2- I get to LA and make my way to Pico Blvd., where my friend Elie is picking me up. With some time to spare, I make myself comfortable on a street corner and begin to read a just-purchased issue of Backpacker magazine.

All of a sudden, I hear a voice behind me: “Well, you’re wearing a Yarmulke (skullcap/Kippah). How about that!”

I turn around and find an elderly man who is very excited to see a fellow Jew. After shaking my hand, he tells me about his Jewish worship, why he doesn’t wear a Yarmulke, why he thinks it’s great that some people do, where he likes to pray, where he lives, where I should go while I’m in LA and so on. He tells me his Hebrew name is Aryeh.

Aryeh then tells me that he’s a writer. “I also love to write,” I say. He then does the obvious thing for one to do in such situations: He pulls out a giant wad of rubber bands, and says, “Well, hey! Have a rubber band! A writer can never have too many rubber bands, you know.” Fearing the dreadful things that might happen to me due to my lack of rubber bands, I say, “Well I better have one, then,” and take a rubber band.

After giving me a few more rubber bands for safe measure, Aryeh bids me goodbye and we part ways.

Story #3- I am flying back from LA to New York. As breakfast is being served, I remember that I did not order a Kosher meal, and resolve to feasting on the candy bar or two that I have in my backpack.

As the stewardess passes by with her cart, she looks at me, recognizes the same head-covering seen by Aryeh, and with sadness in her eyes says, “It’s an egg and cheese sandwich- do you want it?” (meaning “I know you can’t eat this”). I say “No thank you,” appreciative of her sympathy.

But without my asking, she continues: “I think I might have a Kosher meal somewhere on the plane. Give me a few minutes and I’ll find it for you.”

A few minutes later she returns with a tray of hot, tasty, Kosher airline delicacies, and my breakfast is served.

Story #4- That same flight arrives in NY eight minutes early. Before landing, a steward makes a heartfelt request: that passengers without connecting flights sit and wait till those with connecting flights make their way off the plane, so that they have ample time to make their flights.
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My point in all of these stories, is not that people are good, even though they are. It is also not that writers need rubber bands, though apparently, they do.

My point is that we are interesting. Interesting and thoughtful. And not satisfied with sticking to rules and expectations.

I think we do a good job at trying to be boring- suits and ties, etiquette and all. But I’ll tell you what: The stewardess with the movie-system: she was British! Thousands of years of etiquette and she couldn’t suppress being fun.

Chana and I once took refuge from an Ireland rain in a golf country club cafe. Manning the counter was a subdued, proper individual. Polite, but very somber.

But after a few minutes, he started to sing opera at the top of his lungs, right in the middle of the cafe. It felt like a scene from an Adam Sandler movie. But the greatest thing was that is wasn’t! This was a regular guy, at his job, stealing a moment of quiet to sing an Aria.

We, human beings, are just great. So much fun! Who needs any other form of entertainment, when we have each other?

I think laughing at ourselves is a super healthy practice. Did you encounter any interestingness or thoughtfulness of late? I know you did. How could you not? But if not, keep your eyes open- Let us know what you see!

So I unpack this week with our being interesting and thoughtful. Enjoy the week! Enjoy yourself! Enjoy us!

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This entry was posted on Sunday, March 2nd, 2008 at 12:23 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.