“Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the
Universe or we are not. Both equally terrifying.”
- Arthur C. Clarke
Tucson is not a place you “…get to from here…” so, usually, homeward
bound flights change either in Dallas or Chicago – it was Dallas this time on
my way home from New Jersey.
I had just settled into 20B when a voice said, “I think I’m
by the window.” I smiled and said, “Well
then, I guess this row is done,” and slipped into the aisle as he took his
seat.
I have a small verbal toolkit to determine whether I will engage
my seatmate on flights. Marcus Aurelius says that if you have a choice between
working, or interacting with another human being, you should engage the latter,
so I look for opportunities to see what is going on in my fellow passenger’s
minds.
The questions…
Usually I gently probe with a something like:
“Are you heading out or going home?”
If heading home: “Where are you coming in from?”
If heading out: “Where are you headed?”
Two or three follow ups related to what kind of work they
do; how they got started in their job; did they enjoy the time with (or looking
forward to seeing) their family/etc., and I can tell quickly whether I am going
to be chatting or working for the rest of the flight.
The chat…
After the ‘…seatbelt/oxygen mask/nearest exit/read the card
in the seatback pocket…’ announcements were finished, I wondered whether this
fellow would be interested in a conversation.
Not the totally dullest tack in the box, I picked up on his accent
immediately and said,
“What the heck is a Brit doing going to Tucson?”
In this case, it was the only question necessary to get the
conversation going.
Andrew was compact man in his fifties, wearing non descript
greyish clothing that was casual and comfortable looking. He had spent 25 years in British Intelligence
before joining the IT security team of a well known international company, and
was heading to Tucson for an annual meeting with an elite group of colleagues –
game on!
As I sort of expected, he didn’t/couldn’t talk specifics
regarding his work, but was very engaging in the broader brush strokes of his
profession. He had worked to monitor
emerging issues in the Middle East and among other things, had thoughts
regarding how to defang some of the extremist, terrorist threats in which the
West has found itself entangled.
He had been fascinated with computers from a youngster, and
began talking to me about one of his hero’s Alan Turing. He talked about Turing’s efforts in
developing the first rudimentary mechanical device (not rudimentary at the time)
to unlock Nazi Germany’s ‘enigma’ code. It was that successful effort that
permitted the Allies to win World War II.
Being a deeply informed individual, I said,
“Yeah, I really enjoyed the Imitation Game too. I saw it a couple of weeks ago!”
With the subtlest of questioning looks, he indicated he
didn’t know of the movie, he was simply a fan of Turing! It was a little hard to recover from the
shallowness of my ‘Turing knowledge,’ but I said, a little lamely, the movie
was great and that Benedict Cumbarbatch had given a spectacular performance.
“I’ll make a point to see the film when it comes to
England,” he said.
“By the way,” he continued, “there is a film called ‘Castles
in the Sky’ you might be interested in seeing too. It is the story of Robert
Watson-Watt, who invented radar, saving Britain from being completely
devastated by Nazi bombing in the Second World War. It sounds like it a bit of
a parallel to the Turing movie.”
I wrote it down!
When I got home, I looked for the film and found it was NOT
available with American ‘on demand’ services.
Broadcast in September of 2014, it was a ‘BBC Two’ production not yet in
release here. I had given it a good
effort, but it became clear I was not going to see that film anytime soon…no
big deal.
Nice flight, engaging conversation – done. Next?
The ‘loop’ from this chat would not close for more than a
month.
Recently overseas…
A couple of weeks ago I was in Denmark on business and came
home through London. I had a meeting
there, so stayed two nights with friends.
Spending time with people you know is SO MUCH BETTER than
tucking into a sterile hotel room somewhere.
You merge, ever so briefly, into their lifestyle, and because it was the
end of the weekend…the lifestyle was relaxed.
Sunday evening, we watched episodes one and two of the first
season of the BBC’s Sherlock Holmes, starring Benedict Cumbarbatch. After seeing these, I was even more impressed
with the actor.
Then, in a moment of inspiration, I asked whether we might
find and watch ‘Castles in the Sky.’ As
it turned out, they had premium services, but NOT BBC Two…Oh well, not so big a
deal. I would tuck it away for a future
time.
Monday, however as fate would have it, my meeting was in a
part of London near the Sherlock Holmes’ Museum. I didn’t realized it until I put together the
route (train and underground) taking me to Oxford-Circus station where I would
meet a colleague. Heading into the city
early, so as to be sure I would know exactly where I was going, there was time
to walk the few blocks to the museum.
I thought,
This is great! I just
watched the Sherlock films last night and by chance, 221B Baker Street is close
enough to visit!
I found the Museum and the famous 221B Baker street address
with little trouble. I love it when unexpected things like this happen! They provide subtle shades of color to the tapestry of my life…a lovely experience. Next?
Heading home…
Tuesday morning, it was off to Heathrow…home to Tucson and
my own bed! When I return home from a trip, there is little more inviting than
slipping between familiar sheets and drifting into the nocturnal netherworld of
comfort and Technicolor dreams!
I had some work for the trip, but it was 10 hours from
London to Dallas so there would be time to nap, read or watch a film. Chasing the sun (heading west), by the way,
means the entire flight is in the daylight.
Somehow that seems to reduce jet lag – at least for me.
After a couple of hours and dinner, a film seemed like a
good idea, but as is often the case, there wasn’t anything interesting. The ‘new releases’ didn’t catch my fancy and
the available television shows were equally uninviting. I thought I would see what offerings there
might be in the foreign film section.
There were two films, one of which turned out to be – ‘Castles in the
Sky!!’ Are you kidding me!?
It’s not that this film was a burning issue for me; it
wasn’t really that I felt it was even important. It was that I had given my best effort to try
and see it, both at home and with my friends in London…It was just that when I
put the idea behind the back burner of my brain, it showed up as one of the foreign
films on the flight!
Yeah, you might be saying to yourselves, “So what? – What’s
the big deal?”
I understand sentiment, but that would be because you are
not me.
My life has been full of these small reinforcing
vignettes…so many; in fact, I have come to expect the unexpected. That is not exactly right…better said, I have
come to enjoy these little presents – gifts really – from God. They constantly
remind me that when I let go, accept and trust the process of the Universe to do
its thing, I have the most wonderful little ‘touches’ that so enrich my life.
Yes sir, when those open loops close – and many of them do
not…or at least I don’t know they do – when those open loops close, the wonder
and overwhelming magnitude of it all…reminds me somebody, somewhere is watching
me out of the corner of his eye…
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