The Verizon Wireless Halftime Report

Delta moved my seat to 14B without my permission. It bothered me but I am in an eventful seat. I’ll get to that.

I’ve been bothered lately by things. And bothering people with the things that have bothered me. People have listened. People have offered perspective. Most people note my empathy and have assessed it may be in the top tier.

I think some telling key words have come from those conversations:

• “Ideological divide”

• “Decentralized news and media outlets”

Those were said by two different people who I saw recently.

Back to 14B. I am watching the Packers Eagles game which is pretty disgusting. It’s like a cold split pea and chicken soup. Before the game, I texted my Packer faithful and told them I would be on a flight and had to clarify that I would be in “full airplane mode.” Not basic airplane mode. Full throttle airplane mode, meaning if you text me, I will not get it.

I’ve been so hopped off on life recently (the New Orleans crime got to me more than most, and given I was born in LA and have friends there, it’s just sad to see), that my mind has been moving a million hours an hour. I can’t go to bed because I’m thinking about a marginal work initiative. But, because I talked to people who mentioned those italicized phrases above, it made me realize I’m not alone. So now, finally, my mind can relax.

And I am absolutely crushing airplane mode. The woman next to me is not crushing airplane mode. She is crushing Xanax. I really appreciated her openness and honesty during our pre-takeoff conversation. I acknowledged I have an injury so it’s good for me to get up every so often, and she explained her situation. She gets anxious flying, she takes Xanax, and she sleeps. But she isn’t bothered by me getting up because the dose must be high enough where the 'go back to sleep plan' allows her mind to be much calmer than my mind has been for the past several nights.

The man to my left was sweet and switched seats with one woman in a group of four sitting directly in front of us (two rows each, window and middle). They are a “crew.” They were filming videos on the jet bridge (we are heading to Vegas), and they like to scroll and talk on the flight. There’s a lot of Spanish. And there’s some English. And it’s pretty loud. And fun. One woman was scrolling through some models with a lot of skin showing. It was somewhat in front of my face but I generally turned away. The friend on her right must have been taking notes because when I got up to go to the bathroom, I noticed on my way back, that her nipple was showing. Her boob was 75% out, and her nipple was 50% out. I guess it plays. I’m not sure. I obviously wasn’t going to say anything. I’m somewhat glad it was showing because it was another spark to initiate this post.

Mind you, the older woman (I learned geriatric means over 65 because the man’s next to me husband is a therapist at Columbia) next to the two who are scrolling through models and trying to be them was not pleased with her surroundings. A lot of looks.

And can I just say the sunset, because we are flying east to west, has been absolutely stunning for 45 minutes and counting. We have stagnated at the darkest orange hues into a twilight blue sky and the calm mind only deepens in calmness. The majority of windows are down. Heads are buried in pixels.

I don’t know if rows 12-13-14 and beyond on the Airbus 321 Neo are a microcosm of what’s happening in our culture, but there is just a lot happening. And I worry there is too much happening. On MSNBC (on the TV to my left), the headlines are bizarre and all over the place. Apparently there are conspiracy theories about a fire spreading. Trump may be a felon. It’s all a little unclear because it is. Even the news isn’t clear.

I have to get back to watching the Packers play poor football on Fox. Tom Brady has gotten a lot of criticism this year, but I am wildly impressed with his commentating. He’s the best to ever do it so wouldn’t people want to learn and listen in? That’s the question that has a peculiar answer and it’s partially because of the italicized themes that are developing around us.

I’ve said it before – “a relaxed mind is a powerful mind.” And finally, mine is relaxed.

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