Still Got It

I forgot to share one funny story from my Alaska trip last month.

Lana and I were fortunate enough to sit together (with a seat in between us) on the flight home from Anchorage to Seattle. I noticed after we boarded there was a kid (16 or 17) in the window seat in front of us, and that he kept peeking through the seat during takeoff, but I was reading a good book so quickly forgot about him. Halfway through the flight, he stood up and stretched over the seat and asked me (never mind the 2 people sitting next to him) if I knew the time. Barely looking up from my book, I replied no, and that I was not wearing a watch. I read and dozed the rest of the flight, and did not really notice him again until we were getting ready to unload.

As soon as we were able to move around after landing, the kid stood up in his seat, turned completely around, leaned in and started staring at me and my sister for what must have been 10 minutes – as long as it takes to dock and for most of the plane to unboard. I’m talking direct, unabashed, leaning/staring over the seat (and if you’ve flown recently, you know how close the seats are together now. I could have easily spit on him). So in my 28 years of wisdom and maturity what did I do…..got hysterical of course. I couldn’t quit laughing and soon started crying. I didn’t want to egg the kid on, so put my head down and pinched my nose, and told Lana, who at this point was practically sitting on top of me to get away from him because he was leaning so far over the seat to STARE, to quite making me laugh because I had a headache. So for about 3 minutes I sat there laughing/crying with my head down, watching him continue to stare out of my peripheral vision. Didn’t say a word, just stared.

Finally the line started moving (we were in the back), so I decided to sit and wait to get our bags (we carried on) hoping he’d exit before us. I guess he figured out my plan, because as the people next to him moved into the aisle, he stretched over the seat again and said, “I think I’m going to wait for everyone to get off before I get my bags.” At this point I shot out of my seat, grabbed my suitcase from overhead and raced off the plane – leaving Lana to fend for herself. Needless to say she was not very happy with me, but what can I say? Sometimes you just have to run. Although we managed to get out of the terminal with no further incident, I’ll have to admit I spent the better part of our layover looking over my shoulder, expecting to see our stalker in close pursuit. And after how well I’d handled the staring, I’m not sure what I would have done if he’d actually said something to us.

My husband says I’m pretty clueless, and typically don’t notice if I’m being noticed unless he points it out to me, so it’s nice to know firsthand that I’ve still got it…even if just to a 16 year old stalker.

In other news, we're almost through season 3 of X-files - only 6 more to go! I know you are all jealous:)