Again, I find myself in dear, grubby old Heathrow, waiting for a delayed connecting flight to Prague. That's why it's been a bit quiet, I've been stuck on planes. This one was a doozy - not only was I squished into a corner by two ravening Jesus freaks, but Helen Mirren was up front. At baggage retrieval, a huge cheer went up, so she pulled her Oscar out and waved it about with a mighty grin, then spent the rest of her time hugging kids for pictures, and posing with smelly travellers. She was lovely.
The Jesus loonies spent the flight jiggling and fidgeting, reading bits of the bible to each other, praying together and handing out little SMILE! JESUS LOVES YOU! booklets to everyone. Me, the row in front, the row behind, any passing attendant, the greeters, the captain, the people at the door waiting for wheelchair folk, every staff member between the plane and the baggage hall... what was most interesting, though, was how they managed to spend a 13h flight without resorting to small talk or anything non-Jesus even once. It was.. confusing.
The LA-LON seems to be quite the route for eventful stuff.
On behalf of all the non-ravening Jesus freaks out there, I apologize for the behavior of your seat mates. I know it won't make up for the 13 hours you spent cornered, but it is sincere.
Posted by: Michael W. | February 28, 2007 at 01:13
A while back I got on a flight with 50 screaming college hotties going to cancun (plane was stopping in San Fran first, where I was getting off - bummer), and I of course got seated next to a raving jesus freak who was also homeless and had recently been released from - as far as I could gather - some kind of mental facility. He was about 25, and was travelling with - I kid you not - a large paper bag containing a pair of jeans and about 20 different prescription meds.
Little did I expect that he'd turn out to be the most charismatic and entertaining person I'd met on a plane in years. We disagreed on religion, but apart from that he was great. He asked if I was Canadian and after I confirmed he told me he was Pagaean! Ha!
Posted by: Kim Pallister | February 28, 2007 at 06:43
Heh, fun! My two were unfortunately neither charming nor entertaining, but then again, most seatmates on flights aren't.
Posted by: Alice | February 28, 2007 at 11:33
p.s. thanks Michael, and I know most folk aren't ravening .. I just got two prize specimens ;)
Posted by: Alice | February 28, 2007 at 12:00
She was allowed to carry her Oscar as hand luggage? I'm surprised the TSA blackshirts allowed that... though the lovely Ms Mirren would likely have torn them new ones had they complained.
Posted by: nick s | March 01, 2007 at 23:23