Given two paths, of equal length, between where one is and where one wishes to be, the path that can offer the traveler the perception of making comparatively superior progress toward their final destination goal is the path that will more often than not be chosen. It was an episode of introspection, in which I…
The circumstance of customers boarding airplanes shortly after ingesting their purchases affords food handlers employed at airports the opportunity to relax their adherence to hygienic practices. These shortcuts in neglect of cleanliness, while sure to be unpopular with the randomly visiting food safety inspector, can be confidently exercised by the self-centered server, who recognizes that…
Solitary walking is conducive to clearing the mind and settling into contemplation. The same is true of bicycling, albeit only for a narrower range of circumstances. The same is true of driving, albeit only for an even narrower range of circumstances. One could summarize this trend with the statement that the potential of a particular…
The phrase “at this time” has the unusual attribute of being ubiquitous in air travel and uncommon everywhere else. It sounds like the soft scolding of an authoritarian repression that hides its merriment at dictating when certain liberties can and cannot be exercised by cloaking itself in an innocent politeness and collectively addressing the passengers…
Water droplets suspended in the air congregate on the surface of a newly towel-dried body. Taking a shower in a humid environment without using the bathroom fan is asking for sticky clothes or bedsheets, whichever you might be slipping into after the clean. Getting into bed fully clothed, like the main character of my favorite…
One of the staples of air travel is selling out to a corporate giant: every refreshment napkin received on this trip prominently featured Coca-Cola. Delta’s napkins could’ve even come from a restaurant, as the airline had no presence on them whatsoever. Instead, two red coke bottles bordered by fireworks bursts and the words “open happiness”…
Of all the dual-width alphanumeric combinations possible, my Anchorage-bound flight departed from the explosive gate C4. Still, I felt that if death by aircraft was to be my obligatory end, I would rather go out at once in a big bang than plummet to earth in a nauseous descent. It is important, especially on longer…
If you go very long without speaking to anyone, only observing people speaking to each other, you’re likely to begin experiencing a bizarre sensation of isolation. It’s bizarre for its contradiction: feeling alone and invisible despite all the people around you. It’s like something out of The Martian Chronicles. The other day I was reassured…
Some of the things I’ve come to realize as a consequence of being here could have been, or were, explained to me by friends and family before I left Alaska, but no matter how convincing and articulate their promises of what I would find here may have been, there is no substitute for firsthand experience….
I’m making an effort to keep an even lower profile than usual because lately I’ve increasingly felt myself becoming a tempting target of violence and robbery. Steps I’ve taken towards this end: 1. I’ve stopped carrying my backpack. I leave it in my locker, together with most of my other things. I exit the shelter…