Yesterday, as I sat at the airport bar watching people drag carry-on's through the terminal, I wondered if they were arriving for vacation or for business. Were they coming home after long trips? Just starting one?
"You must meet people from everywhere," I said to Susana, the pretty bartender who served me a beer and buffalo wings.
"I've met some pretty amazing people." She leaned on her elbows and raised an eybrow. "I waited on Matt Damon once. And you know what's weird? He's pretty tall."
"He is? He always looks like the short one," I said.
"I know." She turned to a customer on the other side of the bar and took an order.
I thought about the time I ran into an old family friend at O'Hare in Chicago. And the time in college, when on a flight to Boston, I saw a friend from my hometown.
"Do you know who Chuck Liddell is?" Susana asked as she punched an order into the computer.
"Yes." I remembered the episode of Entourage when Chuck Liddell punks Johnny Drama and challenges him to UFC fight.
"I'm a huge fan," she said. "And one time, I saw him walk by so I ran out from behind the bar and chased him all the way to baggage claim."
She tapped her long nails on her cell phone, then showed me a picture of her and Chuck.
"I had to get my picture taken with him," she said.
I laughed.
"That's awesome," I said. I pulled out my notebook and started writing.
As I paid my tab, I handed Susana my card and told her about The Question of the Day. I asked if it would be okay to write about her.
"Sure, I'll totally read it," she said.
"Excellent. Thanks!" I said and walked towards my gate.
And just like that, another airport connection was made. What airport connections have you made?
xoxo,
Suzanne
About Me
- Suzanne Casamento
- Author of Fingerprints, Choosing Tally, and All the Moments in Between. Tweet me @suzannecasamento
I watched Montel Williams eat a salad with his baseball cap pulled down over his eyes while my boyfriend and I were waiting at Newark to board a plane to Vegas. The connection that ensued from this was my conversation with the coffee bar ladies who were deciding whether or not to go over and get all up in his grille.... I was like "No... don't do it! Baseball cap and a downcast glare means NO NO NO!" It was pretty hilarious.
ReplyDeleteI think airports are the most magical places in the world. There are happy reunions, sad departures, anxious families await, routine business trips, etc... I could sit there for a gagillion hours just watching. This is why I am often not frustrated when my flight is (very often) delayed.
ReplyDeleteConnections? Too many to name. And all are wonderful.
I've run into some celebrities along the way and old friends that I hadn't seen in years, but the best was bumping into someone the FBI was looking for and that I had a "connection" too... he was caught, at last.
ReplyDeleteGreat story. I was coming back from Hawaii and ran into my former hair dresser who I'd lost contact with about six years prior. Since she was my fave, I hooked right back up with her - after learning she'd started her own awesome salon.
ReplyDeleteI can't think of a single airport story. Loved yours though.
ReplyDeleteHad a lovely conversation once with a man about to propose to his girlfriend while scuba diving. It sounded pretty cool how he planned it all out to make the event memorable.
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