I was sitting comfortably in my emergency exit row seat on a recent flight from Chicago to Minneapolis. Next to me sat a petite woman who was still wearing her backpack. I asked her if I was in her way and she said she was waiting to switch seats with the person next her husband a handful of rows up. I told her I would switch and she was shocked that I’d give up my exit row but I told her I did not want to be in the way of love! Unfortunately for me the window seat I switched to did not actually have a window…smh. As a big man in a window seat I rely on the window to give me a little extra shoulder room so I’m not all up in my neighbor’s life.
I was texting my girlfriend and told her about my #firstworldproblem, but it’s all good because I did the right thing. Then I met two people that I am excited to introduce you to: Sara and Michael. The stars were aligned in that moment, friends, because after Sara sat in the middle seat she and I cracked a couple jokes while others boarded. Then a gentleman in a pilot’s uniform came up to the woman who was sitting in the aisle and was struck because they both had the same seat on their boarding pass. Until the lady rechecked hers and learned that she was upgraded! Michael sat down and we all had a chuckle about the lady could not have showed less emotion about getting to sit in first class.
The three of us immediately started talking. Most of the questions initially were directed at Michael because he was a pilot and Sara and I had questions about flight and he couldn’t go anywhere. Unfortunately for me the loudspeaker was right around “cacophonous” so I lost much of what was during the flight attendant’s safety briefing. I jumped back in while we were taxiing though, have no fear! Michael did at one point pull out his headphones and drape them around his neck…but you can’t stop the friendship train and Sara and I were DTT (down to talk).
Michael dropped some aviation knowledge on us. Some of the tidbits I recall are that the likely hood that you would ever die in an airplane crash, especially on an American carrier, are slim to none. He said that based on probability if we got on a flight every day that it would take something like 24,000 years before we were involved in a deadly crash. (PS it feels a little weird to be writing this on a plane 30,000ft. in the air, haha!) We also learned that the reason why take-offs and landings are sometimes bumpier is because of “chop.” He described that by using a river an analogy. He said wind closer to the ground is getting redirected and manipulated by the topography and buildings in the area, much like a river going through rapids being tossed and turned by rocks and ruts. But once you get above a certain altitude, even though the wind is two to three times stronger it’s flowing smoothly (like a deep river) so the plane ride is much calmer. Sara and I also learned about the work schedule of the flight crew. They only get paid from the time the plane door closes to the time the plane door opens after they land. He talked about the sleep requirements and how they measure them and also about getting to fly anywhere for free but needing to be willing to basically never have anything planned because there is no guarantee they will get on a flight. So instead of saying, “Hey, I am going to go to Munich.” He has to think, “Hey, I am going to go somewhere in Europe, hopefully it’ll be Germany!”
After we thoroughly barraged Michael with all of our aviation asks, Sara and Michael learned that I was traveling to Minnesota to speak at Winona State University. They asked a number of kind questions about my career and how I stumbled into it. It was asked if this was my first time to the state and I told them how I am actually dating a woman from St. Paul, MN and how she has taught me many-a-fact about Minnesota. They were excited that I knew what juicy lucy’s were, that I had been to Wild game and a Twins game, and that I have been for a boat ride on one the states 11,000 lakes (apparently the state slogan and, therefore, license plates are wrong…there are more than 10,000 lakes. Minnesotan’s are just to nice to correct anyone so instead they make passive aggressive comments about it instead. Yay!)
I turned the attention off me to learn more about Sara. She was flying back home to the Twin Cities after having a raucous time in Nashville for her friend’s bachelorette party. She booked her flight about 5 months ago. It was at that moment that I learned you could book a flight 5 months in advance. I bought this flight 8 days ago. Sara grew up in Alexandria, MN, about 2 hours north of the Cities. She slapped her first pair of ice skates on at age 3 and first started out figure skating until she was finally able to play travel hockey (her school didn’t have a woman’s team). Her travel team would play teams all the way up in the “hat” of Minnesota and even some southern Canadian teams. She told Michael and I about one of the Canadian teams she played. Apparently her squad rolled up there super confident because they were 15-17 girls deep and their Canadian competitor only had 7 players including the goalie. Sara’s team got absolutely smoked 7-1. She could not believe the energy of the Canadian girls, they were skating circles around Sara’s team.
Michael laughed but he was not surprised. He was born in Jacksonville, Florida, but his parents moved the family to Twig, Minnesota when he was five. Twig is outside of Duluth, and one of the best and most Minnesotan town names I have heard. He said his mom’s favorite story to tell about the move was when she was talking to a few moms in their new town about he and his siblings. The other mom’s asked if the kids knew how to skate? When Michael’s mom said, no, they were shocked and said, “Well if you put the 3 year-old in skates now he will probably be able to catch up, the other two won’t have a shot.” Fortunately, Michael was not interested in hockey. He grew up playing soccer. He then returned to Jacksonville for flight school and now frequently returns there on his days off to enjoy his latest hobby: sailing.
Sara went to undergrad and graduate school at the University of Minnesota (they call it, “The U”). She moved to downtown Minneapolis and started working for Target after she earned her degrees. She was buyer for them for quite some time in various areas: pet supplies, frozen foods, home goods, children’s clothing, products, etc. Sara is now doing contracts and negotiations for Target and is climbing the ladder! She recently hung up her hockey skates, sadly. Now when she talks about playing right wing she is referring to chicken. BOOM! #hockeyjokesfordays. She has gotten to travel a bunch of places around the world though, including Australia!
This year Sara has 6 weddings to go to. Michael has 9. Ah, to be in your late 20’s. I told them they will have a quick financial break but then the kids start falling out and the cycle starts back up again. Though our paths will not cross at a wedding or baby shower anytime soon, it’s all good, because Sara, Michael and I are airplane friends.
