You meet the strangest people when you travel on any form of public transportation. My transportation of choice these days is the air bus. 


There is an unspoken etiquette when it comes to communicating when you're on an airplane. There are a few who break these rules intentionally, and those who are simply oblivious. The ones who are unaware have had some sort of circumstance in their life that has prevented them from any real conversation with other people. These people say some funny stuff. 

The woman I sat next to this morning was in her sixties. She used to be a school teacher/librarian. She was kept much like a woman in her sixties would be, with glasses and short, grey hair, and a cozy sweater to match. 

She noticed my phone and talked to me about how much she wanted a blackberry and asked if I had Facebook on mine. I demonstrated a few things and then continued to settle in before we took off. 

When the flight attendant was standing near in preparation to demonstrate how to use the seat belt and such, the woman mentioned that her cousin was the pilot who landed the plane safely in the Hudson River a few days ago. The flight attendant expressed her appreciation for the man and then asked how he was doing. The woman replied: "Oh I don't know him. He's my third cousin. We've never met. But at my family's reunion next summer you better believe I'm going to ask him about it!" 

And with that I closed my eyes and waited for the plane to take off. I was secretly laughing on the inside. It all made sense to me now.