What a combination....I went to Charleston, SC on vacation this weekend. My flight left Memphis at 7:20 pm on Thursday night. With the humidity, the temperature must have been 300 degrees. I will spare you the details of the horrible ordeal I experienced there due to my non-flight activity of 21 years...
Upon finally boarding for my non-stop flight, I retrieved my "Dimensions of Literacy" to be the model student and read while flying. Uh, I discovered I am way too ADD to read on an airplane. Apparently the most popular flight on Northwest Airlines' schedule, it was packed. I am a tad bit overweight. Now, my fat (as a passenger put it on CNN's blog) was not hanging over on the other seat but I was snugly fit into place. If we had gone down, there would have been no flotation device for me because I could not have gotten to the bottom of my seat. See, the ADD has kicked in and I'm on another subject.
As I read Chapter 2 and the writer talked about confusing, I was right there with him. Between the screaming baby, the nightfall from the air (BTW - Atlanta is beautiful at night), the other passengers, I found myself lost as to what the author wanted me to learn. Finally quit the book and played solitaire on my IPOD for the rest of the trip.
The return trip home yesterday was not much better despite the fact I had extra time to read. I would read and find myself looking around at people. Watching people is a hobby and it's fun to see how people act. Oops, there I go again. Are you as lost as I am?
The flight in was delayed and apparently there was a problem because this guy who would never look like Will Smith or Tommy Lee Jones in Men in Black but thought himself so important was not incognito. He stuck out like a dolphin in a desert and once again distracted me from Chapter 2. I think I was somewhere around processing demands but as you can tell I was not processing. There were 2 Atlanta police officers waiting around the gate. You know, Gold and Black with big white letters reading POLICE on the back of their shirts. Not many people noticed I don't think but I am thinking...."hmm...problem?"
I was 12 minutes late boarding to a packed plane. I took my seat which I had to ask two gentlemen to move for me and once again retrieved my book. The intercom came on and the captain advised us there were weather problems around Atlanta and "another" issue that would delay us 20 minutes. Here I am scrunched in a window seat with the guy next to me moving continually and he just can't see I'm trying to read. Alas, I made it to semantic. Could someone explain that to me again? We were on taxi and then halted. Captain came on (another interruption) and advised us we had to move from the gate to make way for another flight and we would be on the tarmac for 30 to 35 more minutes. Oh good...more reading time.
I finally made it to "The Great Big Enormous Turnip" and Atlanta. To tell you how much I learned reading the story, I just reread it to get more details. Another packed flight to Memphis. I tried to read more and the two business men next to me felt the need to talk the whole way. There goes the ADD again. The middle seat guy kept peeking around me to look out the window. Hey, this is my window seat!
The moral of the story....if you are going to read "Dimensions of Literacy" don't read it on an airplane or in the airport. Lock yourself in a padded room and maybe this might enlighten the subject that confused me terribly.
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4 comments:
Your writing in this entry is so blunt and honest - I love it! You had me laughing and I can completely relate to not having the ability to focus on a quiet activity such as reading while on a crowded airplane. There are way too many other interesting things going on. I, like you, love to "people watch".
If I were to make a suggestion about this piece of writing, it would be to focus on one aspect of the trip at a time. (I know you said you were aware of the ADD coming out!) I got a little lost about when you were coming and when you were going.
Karen,
That was sort of the point...I didn't know if I was coming or going at that point.
I had the tv on when I first started to read this post. Let me say, I felt the ADD that you were portyraying so much that I had to turn it off in order to make sense of the post. I completely felt your distractions as I read. I could picture doing exactly what you describe if I had tried to read on a plane. I am taking a trip in a few weeks, and while I try to do the same, I'm sure that this piece will enter my mind. You definitely got the ADD part of trying to read in a noisy, crowded airplane across, loud and clear.
This was absolutely hilarious!! I hate flying also, SO MUCH, so I can relate to the hesitation beforehand and ADD that kicks in when boarding and getting situated. I usually have to semi-sedate myself with Nyquil or Dramamine to ease my crazy feelings! Your commentary on picking up the conversations of the people around you and the section about the police being up to something was great. I felt like I was sitting right next to you, listening to the business men, and trying desperately to get absorbed in the wonderful world of text books!! Great job!!
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