It finally happened, First name / friend.
The dream I've had since puberty has finally come true.
I met a man at the airport.
Meeting someone at the airport has always seemed like the most ideal, serendipitous, romantic, story-worthy way to find your person, so… this is a big deal.
In between chatting up an old man on his way to Paris and commiserating with a woman in the wheelchair ahead of me in the security line, I noticed him.
(Like I said, he's 6'9. I couldn't exactly not notice him.)
(Also, thank God he's not sitting next to me right now. My 16-inch computer is on full could-be-reading-all-of-this view for both parties next to me here in the middle seat, as I type this before my godforsaken shitty American Airlines wifi craps out on me again.)
To absolutely no one's surprise, I'm headed to my second home — well, my best friend's home, but same thing — in Phoenix for the weekend, excited to see my BFF and engage in what my dad would call “deviant behavior” (aka drink a little more than I normally would, and wear a shirt that says cowboy pillows to a concert tonight).
What IS a surprise, though, is that I actually decided to look good at the airport for once.
Normally, I show up looking half homeless, half sleep-deprived, with my attention so focused on my laptop the second I make it through security that I don't even remember there are other people around.
(I don't know about you, but for me airports and airplanes are the best place to focus, work, brainstorm, think of 789 new things to create…)
So, yeah, safe to say walking through the terminal doors at Logan this morning not looking like a moldy rat made me feel wildly supermodelesque.
…and you already know I have ridiculous, unwavering, unwarranted confidence to begin with, so today, this airport was basically my runway.
I'm strutting my stuff through the terminals.
I'm looking cute with my matching sweat set on.
My fresh blowout is shining, thanks to the gorgeous floor-to-ceiling window light.
My brand new all-navy Beis luggage has me looking put-together as hell.
So, when I saw the tall ass man from the security line was at my gate, I thought to myself:
“God knew what he was doing today!” — because, really, looking cute at the airport is so out of character for me that I could come up with no other explanation than Jesus knowing something I didn't.
Now, of course, I typically notice
tons of hot
(or maybe medium ugly? it is a proximity thing after all) boys at the airport, but I always feel like we're ships passing in the night. By the time you see him, he's gone, jetting off to a different destination in the opposite direction.
& for that reason, I wasn't about to miss my chance this time.
When the flight staff called for boarding, I made my second out-of-character choice of the day, and got up early.
(Normally, I never get in that stupid line to board the plane. It's long, it's boring, it's unnecessary. There are assigned seats. Why are we lining up to WAIT on the plane? In close quarters? With stale air? Couldn't be me.)
I headed to the bathroom real quick, with a plan to say something to him when I got back.
To my delight — again, thanks to what I'm assuming was God's intervention — he was standing at the back of the line, alone, looking forward, completely undistracted.
(I realize now this sounds like me stalking prey… but, really, what's a 5'3 girl gonna do to threaten such a large man? Write a newsletter about him or something?)
Now, this part is when I started to act within character — aka just saying shit without thinking about what's coming out of my mouth.
“Dayum,” I said, with a shockingly Texan-trucker-like accent (don't ask, I don't know why, it just happened), gesturing to the long line in front of us.
He looked down at me, confused, then registered that I was referencing the line, as I cursed myself for my lack of rizz.
I don't even know what he said back — some sort of undiscernable agreement nod-and-noise combo — but I knew it was my moment.
“Business or pleasure?” I asked (in my normal New England accent this time, thank God).
& that's when I found my footing, rizz restored, regaining control of the conversation.
(I'm nothing if not great at controlling the narrative. It's the foundation of my entire business, after all.)
Of course, I knew this question would be reciprocated, and we would get to talking about how I've been to Arizona 5 times in the last 12 months, and he'd ask how I was able to do that, and I'd tell him what I do for work, and he'd ask what a copywriter is, and I'd explain that I write websites for business owners…
I'm a mind reader, First name / friend — didn't you know? All great copywriters are.
So, obviously that's what happened.
And, because I'd planned exceptionally today, I was armed and ready with more than just the shiny hair and the matching set.
I pulled out my business card, handed it to him, and said…
“Stalk my website, if you want — but I have to warn you: don't look at my About page unless you're ready to fall in love with me.”
Andddd… let's just say, I have a date waiting for me at baggage claim. 😏💁🏻♀️