Flight AA2632 to DFW. And Dreamin’ of Just One Time.

~ Live & Learn

5:15 A.M. Monday Morning.

Terminal B LaGuardia Airport. Not America’s finest example of its greatness or its Might. Dark. Dingy. Beyond Stale. Earning its status as the Worst Airport in the Country. Dead last in surveys. Sad, really.

Lines are backing up at Security, including TSA pre-check.

One hour and 5 minutes to boarding: Flight AA2632 to DFW.

I clear security.

And I walk.

  • AA2126. Boston. 6:00 a.m. Sit in the stands at a Red Sox game.
  • AA4752. Washington. 6:00 a.m. Sit on the steps at Lincoln Memorial.
  • AA4527. Atlanta. 6:05 a.m. Lounge in the Georgia Aquarium.

What if. Just what if. Just one time. You call it in sick. A Sick Day. What’s that? You walk back out of the terminal, stroll up to the American Airlines ticket counter, pull out your credit card, pay full price for a ticket and…take off…to…anywhere else. Like take a day trip. By yourself. To anywhere else. Turn off your cellphone(s). And disappear, for one day. Off Grid. Just one time.

  • AA3803. Raleigh Durham. 6:29 a.m. Sit in a diner and read Murakami’s new book, uninterrupted.
  • AA3549. Portland, Maine. 6:29 a.m. Sit on a bench and watch the leaves turn.
  • AA349. Chicago. 6:29 a.m. Walk Michigan Avenue. 
  • AA2510. Miami. 6:50 a.m. I pause here. South Beach. Beach chair. Cool drink delivered. Long Nap.

I approach my gate.

  • AA2632. Dallas. 6:59 a.m.

And here it comes.

To Do’s. Commitments. Responsibilities.

I walk up to the Gate attendant. “Good morning Mr. Kanigan. You are seated in an Exit row. Are you willing and able to assist in an Emergency?”

Exit. Now. Do it. This is your last chance.

I smile. “Yes. Yes I am.”

I walk down the jet bridge. And I note that the heaviness lifts. Peace.

I get comfortable in my seat, 24E Exit.

You Need This. Murakami’s ’emotional morphine.’ 

You just couldn’t have it any other way.

Photo: Alex maclean – on roll (via The Cosmic Inspiro-Cloud)

54 thoughts on “Flight AA2632 to DFW. And Dreamin’ of Just One Time.”

  2. Reading that Murakami’s book… sounds pretty good. So does sitting at ANY beach and being just yourself, cool drink, pause for a nap, deserved!! But NO, Mr K is a proper functionning human being – no exits are being taken…. and he’ll probably live to think IF ONLY I had done the undo-able that early morning! 😉
    You know, I start feeling REALLY sorry for you, David…

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

      1. I walked away too many times to remember!
        But I always tell people like yourself, that it is because of people like you the world keeps going the way it should.
        The tracks for the trains of life.
        I’m not a track. Im not a train.

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

          3. “Prose or Poetry, the words come to me in flocks and then leave just as suddenly. Like migrating birds. I am only the bed of water where they stop and rest on their way to warmer lands.”

            Rumi, Sweet Blasphemy.
            ~ Elif Shafak, The 40 Rules of Love

            Liked by 1 person

  13. David, When I read this post I couldn’t help remembering a short story by Jacob Zilber “The Prince” . It starts out with “Two days every month S. Leon Kleinman called in sick. To avoid arousing suspicion he had worked out an intricate scheme. First there was the choice of days. Tuesday and Thursdays were best, if not abused, for Monday and Friday suggested extended week-ends, while Wednesday implied a mid week break. The circled numbers on Kleinman’s calendar revealed the judiciousness of his choice.” (link to his obit http://vancouversunandprovince.remembering.ca/obituary/jacob-zilber-1065962116) I think if you could find it you would love it. I had to hunt through my stacks to find the book it was in. “Man’s Search for Values” W. J. Gage Publishers, 1966. If you can’t find it I will copy and make a PDF for you. It is a short story made for you. (It was in a Grade 12 English Lit textbook) It had a profound effect on me especially in the mid life of my career. I couldn’t stop thinking about it and had to find the book and read it again.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  15. Pingback: Reblog – From David Kanigan Live and Learn – “Flight AA2632 to DFA” | Down the Hall on Your Left

Leave a Reply