Midair Collision

Reading Time: 2 minutes

I was hoping that a Victoria Secret’s model with a fetish for lost cause middle age men heading to South America would occupy the middle seat. I ended up sitting next to a giant of a man, pinning me against the armrest and window for the duration of a four hour flight, my body pressed to the curved wall of the fuselage.

He is a former professional basketball player in B leagues around the world, now training his three time gold medal winning, Olympic-aspiring, WNBA-hopeful, daughter to play at the elite level, We talk about his career and all the unusual places he played. The conversation wanes. He knows that I am squashed and uncomfortable. He offers me a granola bar that he has unstashed from his carry on. I politely decline.

He turns his attention to the digital collection on his iPhone. In my cramped position, I don’t have the option of averting my attention. I watch picture after picture of his family, of his grandson, of his daughter shooting baskets, of family gatherings, as he scrolls through the photos and videos, chuckling and smiling as he pauses at each one. On and on he scrolls through what must be years worth of digital memorabilia.

I can’t help but think of all the pictures on my iPhone: mushrooms, white boards, trails, plants, winemaking projects, woodworking projects, and the occasional dog. Surprisingly, he pauses at a picture on his iPhone of the constellation Orion. Finally, a shared experience, an intersection, something that we might both have on our iPhones, we share a common interest in nature.

He promptly deletes the photo and scrolls on. He offers me a mint.

Image result for orion