You’re at the airport by yourself, with your passport and luggage. You have gotten past the nerve wracking security. You found yourself a seat in front of your boarding gate and it’s going to take an hour for last queue and then you’re on board. Your mind starts to wonder if people are going to wait by the mirrors and wave handkerchiefs while their tears scream farewell. You wait for the champaign bottle to hit the body of the plane and then you smile just a little at the juvenile notions that still play around your conscious adult mind.
You see people. So many people. A rediculous amount of people. People you would otherwise never see. Creeds, nationationalities, jobs, carriers, and just everyone reduced to mere passengers, some maybe a little privileged, and most a little not and that’s it.
You look around and everybody is like you; either sitting, standing, texting, checking their seats over and over again. All different yet all the same.
Perhaps say ‘Hi’ to someone who looks nothing like you. Perhaps open your world to unimaginable possibilities because just 5 minutes of an innocent ‘Hi’ with a complete stranger you have never met and might never see again might just change your world, or at least spare you a boring conversation.
You work up the nerve and stretch out your hand for a shake. Maybe she’s attractive, maybe he has a charming smile. Then your insecurity kicks in and your mind starts to ask you things it didn’t before. What if they dont shake hands? What if it insults them? What if ‘Hi’ means ‘asshole’ in their country and what if that triggers a conflict that will lead to an immediate capture and intense interrogation. What if you missed your flight?
Then a drop of sweat falls from your brow. You stare back at the gate like everyone else, minding their own business. You feel a tap on your shoulder. You look right and find her eyes looking toward you and as a bonus, a smile. And then she says, ‘Hi’. Then the both of you decide what to do with your 5 minutes.
theStylus 