The stranger on the plane

My wife Lindy came home from a trip to visit her parents with a story that delighted us both. It was also a story that illustrated the different ways we tend to interact with the world.

On the way home, she had sat next to a thoughtful, inquisitive 7-year-old whose mother and younger brother were across the aisle.

And, on topics ranging from literature to art to technology to medicine, she and the 7-year-old had a conversation that spanned the entire 2-hour flight. She was jazzed about this conversation and waved away the mother’s attempted apologies. 

Despite having conversations with literally hundreds of 7-year-olds during her long career as an elementary-school art teacher, she’d had a good enough time with this 7-year-old to come home and tell us all about it.

I, meanwhile, have mixed results with talking to strangers in public. On the one hand, I am a curious person who has always been interested in the stories of others. On the other, I’m a self-identified introvert whose social batteries tend to run super low at the end of a trip. Even more so if it’s a work trip for facilitation or some other high-energy activity.

Luckily for me, I can do a quick internal scan before I decide to reach out or go inward. Am I hungry, dehydrated or feeling a bit of a headache creeping in? Extra fidgety or tired? Reaching for my phone more often than concentrating on whatever I’m trying to read? Then it’s a quick hello to my neighbor before it’s on with the noise-cancelling headphones and the calming music.

Or, have I had some time to myself before fording a stream of people on the way to the gate? Game on, friendly storyteller in the next seat over!

If you’ve got travel up ahead this summer, I’m sending you the smooth, calm vibes…