Characters Show Up Everywhere

I was taking a late flight from Chicago to L.A. and since TSA Pre check closes quite early, I got to the airport long before my flight was due to leave. As I guess is obvious as the previous line I have TSA Pre check and it is well worth the cost and minor inconvenience to sign up for. The line is short and I don’t have to take my shoes or jacket off and can leave my computer backed up.

I belong to the Admiral’s Club, so went there to spend the time until my flight left. There is always some kind of snacks to help yourself to and my favorite - a cappuccino machine. When I first got there the place was quite busy, but as the evening wore on, it got quiet. I noticed a couple had come in. They were hard not to notice. He was wearing shorts and a wrinkled suit jacket. In someone younger and more "with it" looking, it might have been a fashion statement, but not with this guy. He had his white socks pulled up high and lifeless brown hair that looked like he might have been his own barber. The woman with him who I assume was his wife was wearing long swirly burgundy color dress, with a long vest covered by a long scarf. The affect of it was that it all kind of swirled when she walked in a menacing way.

As I said, the whole place had emptied and there were plenty of available tables around where I sat, but the couple took a table that was practically on top of mine. She seemed to find everything amusing and kept laughing in reaction, or she was very nervous and that was how she reacted.

All of a sudden I knew she was just perfect as "Muriel" a character in something new I’m working on.

It was a Saturday night in summer, so there were lots of kids and vacation travelers on the plane. Clearly some of them, like the guy who was probably six and a half feet tall, didn’t know how small the leg room as become. I finally gave in and pay extra for a better seat. On this particular plane the exit row I’d chose had enough leg room for me to stick my legs straight out if I wanted. The seat next to me was empty and after we’d taken off the flight attendant came to tell me she was moving a woman to that seat as the man sitting next to her was acting crazy. Not what you want to hear when you’re 35,000 feet in the air. When the woman took the seat she told me he’d been saying he had a knife and then would say he was kidding. The guy across the aisle said he’d almost gotten in an altercation with the crazy guy who had made references to the size of the man behind.

We hit some turbulence after that and the plane pitched for quite awhile, making me nervous and giving me plenty of time to wonder what the crazy guy looked like besides that I’d heard he had a lot of tattoos. Would he suddenly come running down the aisle?

As it turned out, he didn’t, nor did he seem to cause anymore trouble.

When I was waiting at the baggage, I’m pretty sure I saw him standing across the carousel from me. It was midnight, but he was wearing sun glases.. His pants were pulled so low that it seemed like his belt went across his you know what. He topped it off with a white tank top styled undershirt I think are referred to as wife-beaters. He had lots of tattoos all over his arms. Next time I need a bad guy, he’s it.

Of course , he’ll never know. The joke is that he’d probably be flattered.