waiting for air force one to land...

i was talking with my mom today, and she reminded me of an experience i had a few years back...

i was flying to seattle from salt lake. i think i had about a year of college under my belt. we had taxied out to the runway, but had been sitting there for a while. i was sitting in a middle seat, so, not wanting to make eye contact with the lady next to me who had been talking on her cell phone nonstop since we boarded (we hadn't yet had the request to turn off all electrical devices), and without a window to look out of, i pulled out a small notepad and started writing a letter to my old boyfriend, who had just left on a mission (don't laugh at me). finally, the pilot announces that "there will be a slight delay" because air force one was going to be landing momentarily, and all air traffic was to be put on hold until that had taken place. i wasn't in any rush anyway, and i thought it might be kinda cool if i could figure out how to nonchalantly lean over the man to my right and peer out the window and see the famous plane. i mean, it's not like seeing the sistine chapel or anything, but hey - when you fly southwest, you take what perks you can get, right? so the captain stops talking and the lady (who has hung up her phone) starts talking. to no one. she was so MAD that HER precious schedule was being held up for that #*#&@*$! man (that man being the president of the country in which she lived). and she went on. and on and on. to no one (either that or she had an earpiece in her left ear and wasn't very good at responding to whatever the person on the other end had to say).

this was really annoying to listen to. first, you know that person on public transportation that just talks loud? that was her. also, she didn't exactly have the cleanest language, and i respect freedom of speech, but i also feel that there is a time and a place for profanity (if you so feel the need) and that probably, a crowded little southwest airplane is not the place. but what really irritated me was that she totally did not respect the office of the president. so, still not wanting to make eye contact with her, i just kept writing my letter, and started writing about how frustrated i get with people who are so disrespectful to our leaders.

then i heard the dreaded words: is that for me? i look up with a blank stare, and the lady has stopped talking, and is instead reading MY letter (which i had kept mostly covered, but...) and then she gets all condescending on me. "do we need to talk?"

oh man. talk about your awkward moments. and we hadn't even left the ground yet. i tried to keep it simple and said, "i just get frustrated when people are disrespectful to our leaders." she proceeded to bash president bush for a while. i told her i understood that she really did not like the man or what he has done in the white house, but that the fact was, he was the president of our country. and because of that, he deserves a little more respect, and that i didn't think it was all that unreasonable to put our schedules on hold for ten measly minutes so they could ensure a safe landing. there i was, all of 19 years-old, arguing with this woman about when it's time to show respect (who, come to find out, was in her mid-40s, single, and a very opinionated feminist). i remember thinking it was a good thing i was wearing a jacket over my shirt, or she would see that my shirt was soaked through from sweat. i was scared out of my mind.

she soon discovered that not only was i a naive, idealistic 19 year-old girl, i was a Mormon naive, idealistic 19 year-old girl. so then the feminist in her came out. she wanted to know what i was studying (nursing) and why didn't i want to be a doctor. i think she was expecting an answer about not caring if i graduate, because ultimately i wanted to stay at home and have hundreds of babies and can peaches. i told her that i had thought about it, but that i don't like the role the doctor has to play. i told her that i much prefer nursing because it provides more time with patients. she said, "oh." then she asked if i was planning on getting married anytime soon. i told her that if the right guy came along, i wasn't going to shove that opportunity away just because i was too proud to "give myself" to someone else, but at the moment, no. i had no plans of getting married in the near future. i also told her that i felt that if i put my education or career on hold to have kids, that raising good children has every bit as much prestige as anything else i might have done. in the meantime, i planned on finishing my education.

anyway, we ended up talking the entire flight. at first i was super intimidated (because i was - and am - at an age when i say things dumb like "super intimidated"). who was i? some idiot 19 year-old. but she proved to be much the same, only older and with opposite idiot ideas. we talked about ideals that i had, and she would shoot them down with what reality is like. finally i explained that even though i know things are bad, i felt that we have to cling to our ideals or we'll never work to achieve them. when i walked off the plane, my shirt was mostly dry, and she wished me luck with everything. and i realized i had almost won her over. not that she agreed with me, but just that she saw where i maybe had my points.

anyway, it definitely was a memorable experience. but it's made me wonder - why is it that we live in a society where the office of the president no longer is given respect? why is it that we feel it's ok to judge everybody else after a brief meeting (or a two minute segment on the late show) i'm not saying i'm not guilty of it as well. it's just sad. that's all.

and now i think i need to go back to my "no politics" rule for a while. last night while talking to my mom i got so worked up that my stomach started having spasms or something and i couldn't breathe for a minutes. i think that's my cue to knock it off.