Unacceptable things
(in an airport lounge)
A girl in her element.
A woman in the airport lounge with opinions. First, we were on the same team. I was trying to turn off the television because no-one was watching it. I was wandering around looking for a remote which made her happy because she agreed with me—a TV that loud is unacceptable! She applauded me for being such a good person.
Then my sister puts her headphones in and starts to teach her course. It’s a bit loud but not that loud. I mean the man next to us mansplaining to his wife about money and her business is also loud. Regardless, the woman turns to me and says, “Is she going to talk like that for an hour? That’s unacceptable! A second ago you were turning off the TV. It’s totally unacceptable.” (The word unacceptable is said multiple times.)
I note the rift. We are no longer on the same team. I make a show of trying to find my sister another spot to teach away from the woman who finds things unacceptable. There isn’t one. So I just bring my sister wine, put my own earphones in and turn up the volume onThe Diplomat and hope the woman will find a way to distract herself (she does have things do to: put eyedrops in, put on her compression stockings, say no to food that her husband tries to bring her).
What strikes me is how quickly it can all turn—this evolution from ally to unacceptable being of the earth. How we’re together conquering something (the TV!) and then completely apart, full of disdain, dropping people off cliffs in our minds.
The Diplomat. I haven’t torn through a series like this in a while. I loved Kerri (aka Kate Wyler) and her disheveled part (which I’m trying to emulate), the sexual tension between her and the British Foreign Secretary, her weird marriage, her verbosity, how she only wears black suits. All the things. It wasn’t violent. I didn’t have to pause the show to recover from an image. For me in my current frame of mind: perfection.
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I wasn't that loud! And thanks for the wine xo
I'm not saying the cranky woman's behavior was acceptable, but it may be possible that she was cranky because she was having a bad day - obviously she shouldn't take it out on everyone else, but maybe she hated air travel or was on her way to a funeral or worried about a sick relative or something else was setting her off, and she didn't know how to cope with it in an appropriate manner. Maybe you actually helped her by giving her something to complain about, a distraction from her real problems...?
The last time I was on a plane was almost 25 years ago, and I'll be perfectly happy to never fly again (I'm not a good flyer - I'm the white-knuckled, pale passenger, with tightly closed eyes and an airsick bag clenched on one fist... the one no sane person wants to sit next to!). Though I probably would have simply retreated into a book if there was too much noise - or more likely, knowing me, I might have listened in on your sister's class and learned something. 😂