In twenty plus years of traveling around the world, the odds
are that sooner or later you will come across a famous person or two. Over the
years, I have been seatmates or first class lounge mates with a number of
luminaries or former luminaries.
The list includes: multiple US presidential candidates
(early in campaigns before they had their own planes or, in one case,
afterwards when nobody cared), a few football greats such as #39 from the Dolphins
and a former QB and current broadcaster that can be seen on cable hawking “super
beta prostate” at all hours of the day and night, the recently named NFC "coach of the year", several actors and actresses -
“JR’s wife”, “Roseanne’s husband”, musicians of every genre, a martial arts star who is clearly afraid to
fly, a princess, half of the IOC members on their way to the winter games, and
the list goes on.
 |
| This is NOT one of the famous people I have seen "In the Air" |
The interesting thing is despite being high profile people,
I have never seen one of them act like a diva either in the air or on the
ground. I am sure it happens but I have never seen it. I see a lot of bad
behavior by average businessmen when they bully gate agents over upgrades they
didn’t get or whine to flight attendants about their meal choice not being
available. Perhaps there is a mea culpa or two in that last sentence…
Once after coming off a long flight I was “roughly handled”
but not hurt by a crew of large necked security people waiting for their charge
(and my seat mate on the flight) to clear customs. I guess they thought I was
walking too close to her as we came out of the secure area still chatting. She
immediately called them down and then explained how security made her feel
vulnerable. Actually it made me feel vulnerable too. I said “goodbye” but she
insisted I ride with her in a private railcar to Tokyo Station – that was very
cool.
My wife had one of my favorite interactions at a lounge in
Osaka Japan. She was reaching for a drink at the same time another hand was
going for the same beverage. Turns out she beat the “man with the long tongue
from KISS” to a Diet Coke. We talked to several members of the band and they
seemed like average guys ending a long business trip.
Another favorite was on a long flight to Singapore. I got up
in the middle of the night to use the rest room. As I walked down the aisle, I
saw one of the world’s leading motivational speakers (can you say “personal
power”?) stretched out in his first class cubicle with his mouth wide open at
an odd angle. I resisted the brief bout of voyeurism along with the urge to use
my cell phone camera and went about my business.
Fortunately I have no tendency towards identity theft. A few
years ago I was reading my email in a lounge cubicle waiting to fly to Japan
when a very famous actor sat down in the next cubicle. He reached for the phone
and made a call. Blessed with good ears, I heard every word including the hotel
where he was making a reservation and his credit card details. No, I didn’t try
to memorize them. I didn’t know whether to be more impressed by the fact that:
1) this “A” lister flew commercially 2)
he made his own hotel reservation 3) he had no entourage or 4) he gave out his
credit card info over the phone in a voice loud enough for several people to
hear. One more thing – the guy is a lot shorter than he looks on the big
screen.
For me flying is generally a solitary experience where time
is taken up reading, watching movies or sleeping. As a diversion, I have enjoyed spotting and observing
the behavior of famous people over the years. At least as far as travel is
concerned, they seem a pretty average bunch.
 |
| From my less than 15 minutes of fame on NHK |
