MPC Press International

Do you talk to the person next to you?  We all think about saying more than “hello” to the airplane passenger in the adjacent seat.  Some of us have a firm view, one way or the other, and those that do generally believe in keeping quiet.  A minority consider it fair game and a way of life to at least ask, “are you heading home or away?”  And an overwhelming majority, talkers or not, do not want to be seated next to the John Candy character from Planes, Trains and Automobiles.  It takes a lot of work to keep up conversation in a polite way with this type of neighbor.  All of us have been confronted, and everyone has tried the sleep route, shutting our eyes (rude perhaps, but not so rude during takeoff) at the first lull in the conversation.  With a chatty cab driver, it is easy to fake an incoming phone call, and at some point cell phone calls will probably be status quo on planes.  Recently, I sat next to Henry Winkler on a plane, and he couldn’t have been nicer.  I would bet that everyone speaks to him on flights.  In fact, an obnoxious passenger behind me, upon overhearing me ask about Happy Days, said, “I guess we just can’t leave Fonzie alone.”  Or maybe I was the obnoxious one for making small talk.  I took a five hour flight this week, and as we were landing said my first words (other than “excuse me”, when climbing over to go the lavatory) to the adjacent passenger.  After 5 minutes, we discovered that we were childhood friends who just didn’t recognize each other.  Going forward, I may be more chatty, after this pleasant occurrence.

Tags: automobile, conversation, Fonzie, plane, train