The Shadow You Cast

Traveling by plane, as I recently did, is always fun for me. If you keep your head up and take in the sights, oh, it’s a smorgasbord of visual candy.

You see things like this guy, dressed like peanut butter fudge:

And this woman, 

wearing the same sweater I have at home:

There’s always this guy:

who can plop down and fall asleep, anywhere, in front of anyone.

And then there’s this guy, the loud talker:

Sometimes you’re seated next to him on the plane or in a restaurant. Other times, as was the case for me, you’re just seated within a close enough proximity that you hear every single word he says while you’re just trying to relax and read your book. 

First, he made a phone call and screamed into the phone for a few minutes. It wasn’t an angry scream. Just an elevated volume. The call ended and I thought, “OK, now I can read.” but he had other plans. Then he started talking to the lady, who I assume is his wife. Despite my best efforts, I could not block him out. Seeking alternative seating proved futile, so I just sat there and took it in. Since there was no tuning him out, I decided to at least concentrate on his words. After just a few seconds, I realized he was just talking to be talking and wasn’t really talking to his wife, or anyone for that matter, about anything. He was simply talking. It was stream of consciousness, saying whatever came into his mind. And the interesting thing was his wife never responded, never bat an eye, never really even looked up. He had an entire conversation all by himself.

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."Psalm 91:1