Strangers on a Plane

I tend to be the person who does not want to make small talk on a plane. I either want to eat my sandwich, do my Sudoku or simply fall asleep (or at least pretend to be sleeping so I don’t have to chit-chat about where I am going.) A friend recently told me that I should invest in a hat that says: Ask me about Jesus and also sport a t-shirt that says: Ask me about the devil. This would surely keep the “talkers” away and allow for some puzzle-solving, sandwich-eating peace.

So today, as I flew back to New York after singing for the opening of a new Hilton in Columbus and the last performance of the fall run of La Boheme for Opera Columbus, I encountered two talkers who wanted to know the usual. They seemed nice enough so I engaged them in conversation (doing more than my usual answer of questions in short spurts without returning the favor by inquiring about them.) I asked what they were doing and we chatted for several minutes about their kids, their travels and the like. When it got to my career, they seemed very impressed that I was an opera singer. They were very sweet. I realized that perhaps, I don’t have to be a sour puss and could actually be a charming, kind person. Just then the guy behind me tapped me on the shoulder and handed me a card. He turned out to be someone who worked in opera and handed me his card.

I started thinking that many times in life, we just stay to ourselves. We connect more with our phones and puzzles and in my case, food and forget that there is life happening all around us. My new roommate and I were talking about this phenomenon. She told me of something she heard recently where a girlfriend of hers mentioned that “...we are no longing going on line, but we are online.” We’ve become so engrossed in our own selves either through technology or books or other means and don’t realize that the art of talking/connecting with people face-to-face is a dying art.

So the moral of this tale is that through connecting with people, anything can happen. Had I remained quiet, I would have never learned anything about these lovely people or been given an opportunity that was literally sitting there waiting for me. So the next time you want to accomplish something, don’t just open up your laptop, open your eyes as the opportunity might be sitting next to you in the form of a stranger on a plane.

Peace,

Eric