Aeroplanes...

I don't mind flying. I won't say I love it because sometimes it's not enjoyable, but I don't hate it either. It's probably because I don't fly often enough to really hate it. I do often wonder, though, how business people fly so much... I think that would drive me crazy.

I flew on Thursday and Sunday of last week and will fly again this Saturday. This means I have had some time to make interesting airplane and airport observations.

I like airports because I like watching people. People who are stressed about delays and seats and screaming children. People who could care less about when they leave and when they arrive. At any given time, someone is doing something interesting.

I often fly on small planes. The ones where you can feel like you can touch the back of the airplane when you are standing at the front. On my first flight last week, I entered a small plane and realized I was seated next to the bathroom. I only had this experience one other time in my life, sitting by the bathroom. A rather heavy-set man asked to sit next to me, even though there were many empty seats on the flight. He was pale and sweating profusely and I determined he wanted to sit next to the bathroom because he was not feeling great. Well, I was correct in this observation because the flight ended when he whipped open the barf bag and used it. This was the first time I experienced someone using the barf bag. So on Thursday, when I sat down by the bathroom, I was somewhat suspicious that this could be a bad sign. I am pleased to annouce, however, that this was an enjoyable experience. A fifty-ish old man sat down next to me with a casual style briefcase and a coke. He had a magazine that he chose not to read. Instead, he opened his briefcase and pulled out the original Nintendo Gameboy. Of course, I proceeded to say, "The original Gameboy - that is fantastic! You just made my whole day." He asked if I wanted to play, but I politely declined. I didn't want to show him up with my amazing skills. I did watch him for an hour, however, and he was pretty good at Tetris. How great is that?

That flight took me to Charlotte, which is my favorite airport. It has good food and shops and a variety of live entertainment. It also has white wooden rocking chairs that are great for lay-overs. The airplane I took from Charlotte to Pittsburgh was decent in size, seating 6 across. I haven't flown on this size plane since going to Vegas a few years ago. I was impressed by this flight because they dropped the television screens for the flight. While the duration of the flight was not long enough to view a movie, it was suitable for the airline to provide Cranium trivia. This I found enjoyable. I dosed off for a few minutes, woke up, looked at the screen, learned some new fun and useless facts, and dosed again. Repeat process. It was either this or talk to the two suits next to me about my 401(k), the stock market and my life story, which I was not interested in. Seriously, these suits talked the entire time. No, they were not friends. Complete strangers. Ridiculous that two people who know nothing about each other could invest in conversation for this long on an airplane. I enjoyed my many short naps and fun facts instead.

Overall, I had a decent week of flying. I am not sure why people hate it so much - it never seems to be that bad. Perhaps my flight next week will bring another interesting opportunity to observe or experience something new. If not, though, I will at least get to enjoy the rocking chair in the Charlotte airport again and that makes it all worth it.

Changes for the Catholics...

The Catholic Church has made some changes here in the US regarding key phrases during Mass. Don't be alarmed - it's nothing like the overhaul of Vatican II, but it is something to be aware of, particularly if you're like me and you are not a regular attendee of weekly Mass. I'm sure you'd figure it out when you show up one random Sunday and the regular-goers are already down with the new lingo and you're wondering what the heck is happening but I'd figured I'd comment anyway.

On one hand, I appreciate changes for the Catholics. Change is often good, I believe, and since the world we live in does constantly change, perhaps elements of one's faith and practice of that faith should hop on board and be changed when appropriate. On the other hand, if I had to pick what type of changes I'd want the Catholic church to pursue, I'm pretty sure changes in phrases repeated each week at Mass fall pretty low on my list. I'd rather see changes in bigger policy/hot-button issues, but I digress... it's just not the right time for another serious overhaul.

You can read about the new changes here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/15/AR2006061502252.html?nav=rss_nation

I found this article, read it, and sent it to my Catholic bud, Susan. As always, Susan had some fun witty commentary to offer, and I believe it worthwhile to share, so here goes. Susan said:

Jess sent me a similar article yesterday. I said "good thing I have stopped going to church. The changes would annoy me."

I found this piece and thought I would share my comments:

Change: The exchanges between priest and parishioners that now go "The Lord be with you" / "And also with you" would become "The Lord be with you" / "And with your spirit."
Comment: So the priest has a spirit but the congregants do not?

Change: The Act of Penitence, in which parishioners now confess aloud that they have sinned "through my own fault" would include the lines "through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault."
Comment: Catholic guilt 101 -- make a little fault a "most grievous fault"

Change: In the Nicene Creed, the opening words "We believe" would become "I believe."
Comment: Heaven forbid we take a communal approach and recognize our membership in a larger body.

Change: Early in the Eucharistic Prayer, "Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might" would become "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of hosts."
Comment: By hosts do they mean people who throw parties? Let's use the vernacular and not obscure religious language.

Change: Before Communion, the prayer "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you" would become "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof."
Comment: I am homeless and take offense to this one. It discriminates against people who do not have roofs under which others may enter.


So for you Catholics out there, whether you're dedicated weekly attendees or slackers like myself, may you find the changes to your liking. However, if you do not, as Susan anticipates, please let me know and we will share a good laugh and some commentary.

May the peace of Christ be with you.

Would you kindly massage my feet?

I don't like feet.

I don't know when I realized this or why but feet gross me out.

I think part of it has to do with my years as an athlete in high school. I am sure someone who I played sports with, particularly who I ran cross country with, can attest to the fact that I always had nasty giant blisters on my feet. They were disgusting and painful. I spent many hours back in those days trying to find the right cushions, bandages, wraps, etc to heal old blisters and prevent new ones. Nothing ever worked. So I think part of my dislike of feet stems from the many blistering experiences of my adolesence.

The weird thing is, though, that I don't like shoes either. Most people would think that because I don't like feet, I would prefer to hide them from humanity. My feet prefer to be free, however, not crunched up in sneakers or uncomfortable shoes . My feet like freedom, particularly the freedom of some flip flops when outside or of nudity while inside.

My friends sometimes give me a hard time when they know of my dislike of feet. Just last week, cousin Jen thought it would be funny to stick her feet on my neck while she was sitting on the couch and I was sitting on the floor. I almsost puked. This humor is apparently funny to some people.

My friends also sometimes give me a hard time because I have often said, "You know, if I was ever dating someone that I wasn't really sure about and he asked me to massage his feet, I might just have to call the relationship quits." (Yeah yeah, I know... it's a stretch to think I'd ever date again, but regardless...)

But seriously, I am not sure I could do it. I don't think I could fake my way through giving someone a foot massage if I wasn't entirely convinced he was 100% worth it.

Then it hit me, however. There are occasional days that I come home from work or some place and I think, "Damn, my feet hurt. I could use a massage."

Would I be willing to take a foot massage from someone if I wasn't willing to reciprocate?

In what situation would I be willing to touch someone else's feet?

The answer hit me last week. Love. There needs to be a serious level of love between me and someone else for me to touch their feet. I realized this when my gram asked me to put a band-aid on the blister between her toes. Gladly, I did, even though feet are gross. But she's my gram, and I love her, and if you can't touch the feet of someone you love, well, you're obviously not dedicated to the relationship.

I guess time will tell what lucky fellow will be the recipient of such a deed.