Chatty on Airplanes

When Sophie and I were walking out of the airplane ready to switch planes she started laughing and said how chatty I was on airplanes considering how I'm not much for talking to strangers elsewhere.

On our way to Barcelona, we sat next to this very interesting, pretty 20-something lady from Poland who lives in Atlanta with her boyfriend and his two children and is an Economic student, but plans to return to school to become an oral surgeon who specializes in reconstructive dental work for children. She, her mother, brother and most of the people from her home town in Poland suffer from Graves disease as a result of the winds during Chernobyl. She has a great fear of flying so I talked to her during take off and landing reassuring her that the likelihood of problems were weak as well and if anything did happen we would die almost instantly so we'd never really go through any sort of pain or suffering.

Sophie took my lead as we were walking on a catwalk in Biblao's Guggenheim and began telling me that if I fell we were so high up that I would just splat and be dead instantly. No the ground wasn't shaking as I began to sink with wobbly legs now holding me tenuously not wanting to hold onto the thin cable wiring as it was far too close to the edge and it was evident a person could easily fall to their death. Sophie informed me she was just using the same tactic as I used on the lady on the airplane. I explained that it worked for the lady, so the results weren't the same. I did not take the catwalk again. I believe the Polish lady will fly again perhaps with a little reassurance that once she's up in the air the plane will probably not fail as the most dangerous times to fly are during take off and landing. While, I will probably not ever take the catwalk at Bilbao's Guggenheim again, at least not with Sophie as that seems to be the most dangerous time.

On the return flight, Sophie's TV wasn't working so she found another seat further back in the plane and I spoke to the 30-something man originally from Barcelona who has lived in LA for the past 16-years. He originally arrived in LA via his student visa attending The Pasadena Art and Design Center for film as an undergrad, then UCLA for Fine Arts as a grad. He has kind words to say about UCLA's Fine Arts Program at a Graduate level. He still lives in LA, although he spent the past year-and-a-half in Amsterdam, and works as a video artist. He shows around the city, feels there are more artists in LA than in NY, and screens the works of other video artists from around the world in LA galleries. He went home because his work was part of the Loop Festival which took place in Barcelona while we were there. It also gave him time to see his family. He parents flew into town from Northern Spain and his sister is pregnant with her second child. It was an LA art gallery that got him in the show in Barcelona which he found ironic seeing as though it is his hometown. It took him about 10 years to get used to LA. Now he likes it very much. He feels that LA dismisses history and is not tied down by it as many old European cities are. He feels these ties can often bind a city keeping it from progressing as it might otherwise. He also said the French are as bad to the Spanish as they are to other foreigners reconfirming my decision not to attend subject myself to the French during this European visit.

Yes, I enjoy talking to people on airplanes.