Sunday Night With John: The Middle Seat

Reluctantly I took the middle seat on the flight home from New Orleans as Anne and my seats were not together for this flight. I’m not going to be the husband that makes his wife takes the seat in between two strangers. I began the process of convincing myself that I could catch up on the sleep I missed in the middle seat without drooling on a stranger.

Finally I boarded the plane and found my seat.  I was going to be squeezed next to who I believe is an African-American man and large Caucasian man who appears to be okay entering my personal bubble.  I quickly settle in with my book and get through two pages when I realize the lack of sleep I put myself through to enjoy all of New Orleans was catching up with me fast. I put the book down and begin to navigate the challenge of sleeping while sitting up.

After successfully sleeping for about two hours without landing on anyone’s shoulder, I’m awake. I notice that the African American man has a Philadelphia Eagles scarf on. I inquire if he is a fan and if he is heading back to Philly.   He has an accent that reveals my assumption about him being African-American was way off. He answers by saying that yes that he is a Philly fan, and that he is returning to Montreal, Canada for college. We proceed to have a 90-minute conversation covering a wide-range of topics. He is actually a Haitian American and goes to school in Montreal because he has family there, which helps him with the cost. We chat about New Orleans and how much we enjoyed Frenchman street. He was there with friends to attend the New Orleans Saints game the same weekend. He explained that he and his friends pick a stadium each year to go to as a group to see big cities, enjoy football, and see the country.  I continue by sharing about my love for New Orleans for its diversity and life. 

Our conversation then wandered to what it is like to live in Iowa as he grew up in New York City. He openly laughed about how cheap it is to live in Iowa. We talked about the vastness of the Montana Sky and how you can realize just small you are on this planet. He talked of the energy of New York and we chatted about the drawbacks of Iowa being it’s lack of diversity, and how New Yorkers think the world ends at their borough. He stated that a lot of New Yorkers think: why travel? We have everything we need right here. He told me that he has friends that haven’t even been to Brooklyn who live in Queens.  After more questioning, I find out that he is going to school for business and dreams of opening up his own business one day. What business yet he hasn’t figured out. We talked of my life work of helping at-risk youth and the underprivileged. He let me know Montreal could use me because they are still struggling with making places wheel chair accessible. 

As the plane landed, we parted ways without ever introducing ourselves to each other, but walked away knowing a lot about each other. I sauntered down the jet bridge thinking about the twists and turns it took for my Haitian friend and I to sit next to each other on a plane from New Orleans to Chicago. I thought about how many choices either one of us could have made that would have altered this chance meeting.

I finally catch up with my wonderful wife and realize that those same twists and turns apply to her and every other person in my life. It made me realize how fortunate I am to be open to those twist and turns. Remember that the middle seat is not always a drag.  It might just give you an opportunity for a conversation, a new friend or a life changing moment. Thank-you my unnamed Haitian friend, it was a great conversation; maybe we will cross paths again one-day.