Wandering Sunday

Sunday, January 20, 2008. 1349. Thurgood Marshall Baltimore-Washington Airport, waiting for flight to Nashville, Tennessee. Sunny, with a chill that bit right through my running shoes and swiped at my toes.

What is it that I hate about flying? It's no longer the flying itself. I welcome the enforced opportunity to fall asleep for a couple of hours and take a nap that I wouldn't normally be given the opportunity to take. No, it's the constant background chatter. There are just few enough people that I can make out distinct conversations, yet not enough to make them all blend into a cacophonous mix. Either quiet, or indecipherable noise. The inbetween combines the worst of both worlds.

Most of this weekend was spent running errands and catching up on business. Now, I'm right back out into the wilds. It's interesting, though, these past few weeks have taught me that I need to leave Virginia, and likely leave the tri-state area. Again, I am constantly reserving judgment for when this gets old, but so far, it is still kind of nice. Breaking up the monotony, I think, is the key. Video games are a way to change things up, but ultimately, it's more exciting to go out and see different places.

***

I parked my car in the long term lot, with hopes that I would be able to walk to BWI. Ah, naïve me. In the end, it turned out that the airport was a few miles from the parking lot. I could have walked it, yes, and then I'd end up just in time to miss my flight.

Just one of the many signs that I haven't flown enough in this postmodern/terror-driven world. At least it isn't as bad as when there were military with AK-47s at security in the months immediately following 9/11, and I've flown once or twice since then, but the last time was a few years past.

Now, Baltimore-Washington Airport is so much brighter and expansive than I remember. Even though it all remains as an enclosed structure, they've been revising and reconstructing and retconning the 'port. This is the result.

***

This is me en route to the south. The flight will also hit Ontario thereafter. The overwhelming majority of these individuals are white. There are a few African Americans, and I am the only Asian person. Thoughts of ethnicity dance through my head. Where in blue heaven am I going, and what should I expect?

An Indian woman comes up to the gate, with bags under her eyes so deep you'd think she was in the midst of a medical residency. Thank goodness I'm not the only Asian here. That's a big part of the issue, isn't it? That Me versus World attitude that has driven me and held me back.

The cattle call has begun. I guess I'll have more thoughts when I arrive, and once I get situated.

***

One thing I did want to touch upon: How crazy is it that we strap ourselves into giant metal balloons and allow ourselves to be catapulted across the country? Back in the day, when they catapulted people, it was a punishment. Now, it's a tool/reward. This world is kind of crazy, and I'm, as always, kind of a part of it, kind of separated from it.