ChileMass
Active member
Just back from a LONG day of being delayed in airports, but there was a silver lining.
The 5PM US Air flight out of Newport News VA finally boarded at 735PM, and I took my spot in seat 12D (or whatever it was). There were literally only about 12 people on this 50-seat jet, so because I wound up next to someone, I dumped my stuff in seat 11D and took off for the bathroom. When I came back out, a lanky, 50-something blonde guy was looking at my stuff in a confused way, so I grabbed my gear and jumped across the aisle. Even the brief, "Thanks" he gave me was enough to recognize him, so I said, "No problem - Mr. Hornsby - ??", and he just smiled back. I quietly told him I was an old fan, and he stuck out his hand and said thanks again. It was cool.
Then - we sat on the goddamned tarmac for another 90 minutes (!!) while the air traffic cleared out of Philly, so I got to do both crossword puzzles in the magazine. Hornsby was reading an article on Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection - I peeked. He seemed really into it.
When we finally landed in Philly I just said it was nice to talk to him and asked him if he still plays "Spider Fingers" which is an old favorite. He brightened right up and said, "Yeah - I play it every night and it's different every night. I throw in some weird jazz stuff just to mess with people" and he laughed.
So that was fun - broke up a wonderful day of glamorous business travel.....
The 5PM US Air flight out of Newport News VA finally boarded at 735PM, and I took my spot in seat 12D (or whatever it was). There were literally only about 12 people on this 50-seat jet, so because I wound up next to someone, I dumped my stuff in seat 11D and took off for the bathroom. When I came back out, a lanky, 50-something blonde guy was looking at my stuff in a confused way, so I grabbed my gear and jumped across the aisle. Even the brief, "Thanks" he gave me was enough to recognize him, so I said, "No problem - Mr. Hornsby - ??", and he just smiled back. I quietly told him I was an old fan, and he stuck out his hand and said thanks again. It was cool.
Then - we sat on the goddamned tarmac for another 90 minutes (!!) while the air traffic cleared out of Philly, so I got to do both crossword puzzles in the magazine. Hornsby was reading an article on Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection - I peeked. He seemed really into it.
When we finally landed in Philly I just said it was nice to talk to him and asked him if he still plays "Spider Fingers" which is an old favorite. He brightened right up and said, "Yeah - I play it every night and it's different every night. I throw in some weird jazz stuff just to mess with people" and he laughed.
So that was fun - broke up a wonderful day of glamorous business travel.....
