Peripheral Man Episode 5
Debbie was early getting to the airport. She had planned the trip well in advance, taken care of all of the things at home that she needed to do. Got a house-sitter lined up, made sure the cat was well fed and watered, the plants and garden were all tended and everything at work was going well, so it was fairly easy for her to finish things off.
The day she was to leave she had just a few last items to pack; things like her toothbrush, toothpaste and so on. The taxi had been called in advance to come at the prescribed time, and she got to the airport with plenty of time to get to the gate and get past security. She was lost in her own little world as the minutes ticked by before boarding was to start.
Debbie recalled previous trips where she was with friends, or on other business trips. Sometimes there'd be a baby in the same row as her who cried almost the whole length of the flight. Other times there was a chatter box sitting right next to her that could not pass up on the opportunity to tell her their life's story. Most of the time, however, she was an anonymous passenger on the aircraft with a bunch of other anonymous passengers, all coinciding to be on the same plane, but all going their own way.
It has been quite some time since her last trip, but she had travelled often enough that even though some time had passed, she had the routine down. Proficient packing, terrific taxi time and easily acquired on line boarding pass are the ways to do it. Now she even learned that she didn’t need to print the boarding pass at all – using her smart phone she could get an RC code that would do the job of what a boarding pass used to do.
Her reverie was drawn to a close as a group of senior citizens sat near her, talking about the cruise they were heading towards. It sounded like a Princess cruise to some warm destinations; this definitely had some appeal to Debbie, but she had other business to attend to. As the group of ladies chit chatted about their kids and grand kids and about the fun they'll have and the food they will be eating, Debbie listened casually to their conversation and regarded them with curiosity.
At one point one of the Princess Cruise ship ladies dropped her boarding pass and not a single one of the group noticed this. Debbie noticed it however, and was just about to get out of her seat to pick it up to give it to the lady when Peripheral Man picked it up first and gave it to her, allowing Debbie to continue waiting for boarding.
