Charon And The River Styx

I picked up a friend from the airport today. Amazing things, airports. So many people, from so many disparate lives, crossing paths briefly like snowflakes and skin. I have always enjoyed watching them, rushing to and fro, scrambling to check in or gather their luggage or waiting in line to get through customs. All the tears of joy and sadness, departures and arrivals. Veteran businessman, passing their time quietly reading a paper in the bar with $10 drinks. Tourists are much more interesting. Their frenzy and excitement build upon one another to create a whirling, swirling drama of crossed feet and tipped over luggage and inappropriate clothing.

Inappropriate is a fantastic word, by the way, misused though it is. Normally, when I use that word, it is universally mentioned in a good way, as in, "that shirt, the sweater on the fat guy that is so tight it rides half way up his belly, is terribly inappropriate." Or, "wow, that hair is so inappropriate, it is almost beyond the pale." And thank God for it. I love people that are not aware of where they are and there context in that place. I find it incredibly honest. Okay, please use deodorant and shower from time to time, but other than that, be what you are. Personally, I enjoy wearing a suit once in a while, though I am mostly a jeans and loose-fitting button down shirt kind of guy. I dress like most people I guess. But what if everyone dressed the way they really want to. Would we all be more evenly split? 20% in facial piercings, 20% more with neon hair, 10% in leopard prints, 25% in bicycle shorts? My jeans and t-shirt would probably stand out a bit more. Ah well. My curiosity into who, what, and why people are is never, never, never ending.

Anyways, it's nice, sometimes, to be the last face someone sees when they depart or the first face they see when they arrive. I like the raw emotion behind such encounters. The nervous anticipation of the unknown, the weary realization of a sudden end and just as sudden a beginning, the scripted plans, the unscripted surprises, the return to reality, the excitement for fantasy. I fancy myself Charon, transporting people back and forth across the River Styx. It is a nice, subtle, but overused idea, Don as Charon. I do like the idea of building bridges for people to cross. Sometimes, with my friends or coworkers, I try to plant a seed of change, a momentary thought that might help them see a lighted path where before they had seen just a barricade. I've struggled many times in my life wondering how I was going to get from here to there. I refuse to allow anyone under my sway to say, "I can't." I hate it. I don't know if I really have any impact on anyone, but you will not drown under my watch. There is always a way. And it is something I accept, beyond my own wants and needs, to be a conduit through which life can carry on. And I don't say that to be pretentious or cocky. It really doesn't matter, I suppose. I don't ever want to be a wall that one must pass through. I'd rather be a warp drive.

lalalalalalala. Oh, sorry, I just heard Otis Redding live just now, and I had to sway for a minute.

Still, though, I'd like to not be Charon, once in a while. I want to get off his boat more often to seek adventure among the people I love. It seems I am forever ethereal, ungraspable, not quite of this world but not quite out.

(Uh oh, here comes Johnny Cash turning Nine Inch Nails' Hurt into a great song) :))))

Now, I know most workers at airports, from pilots to ticket agents to baggage handlers, at some point lose sight of the amazingness that surrounds them each day. In my industry as well, most people become bored or annoyed after a while. It happens on my jaunts through small towns as well. I stopped a few weeks ago in a pet store in Ludington and remarked what a nice little town it was. The kid in the pet store (he owned it, so not quite a kid, but close) just kind of rolled his eyes. I saw in him a clear longing for something different, and he said so. I said it must be great to have so many resources so close at hand, and not have to deal with traffic or crime. He said he would do anything to get out of town. I suppose I was that way once, when I left Muskegon for Chicago. But I have learned that the people who get the most out of life are the ones that stay positive and do the best with what they've got. If something needs to be changed, then by all means change it. But don't forget to be aware of all that you have, lest you throw it out with the trash. The most successful and happiest people know how to tell the difference.

I also see those that become so entrenched with what they know, they are not willing to take risks necessary to grow. I see this predominantly in older people. Especially the generation that is retired now. They have largely, through the structure of the past, built their lives out of working for one or two companies, being married for fifty years, living in the same house they bought when they were young whippersnappers. Living in a time when technology progressed more slowly. Times have changed. i have seen estimates that the average person will change jobs at least seven times during the course of their lifetime. Seven times! And this often consists of more than one career. Which of course means more moving. Interacting with different people, different groups of friends, being separated from family.

It's a frustrating time. I was among of the first of the Age of Communication generation. I remember sitting in front of a computer screen at the University of Michigan, with a black screen, no mouse, no World Wide Web, no Yahoo or AOL. You would have to know the URL address you wanted in order to chat. I did. I remember talking to one Israeli student during the first Gulf War as rockets were falling around his apartment building. I remember being shocked and amazed that this could be done. Now, we get live reports from the front, including video, from cell phones! People now seem to be learning to take advantage of all this technology to find ways to connect to each other after the void left by the sudden shift in how we work and live left people miserable and unconnectable. facebook, MySpace, Flickr and other social networking sites are incredible ways to keep people connected. More on that another time.

my wish for you tonight: remember what connects you to others, not what drives you apart, and hope for the best..........