My Commute

As I have most weeks for the last year and a half, I flew to Lugano this morning. A couple things have changed since my regular visits before Christmas – instead of muffins, they are now serving little cinnamon buns with the coffee in the morning. That’s good – the muffins were not that great. And the hat guy is gone. I have mixed feelings about that.

He used to fly the same days as me (GVA -> LUG Wednesday morning and then LUG -> GVA on Thursday night). He would get on the plane, and, with a line of people waiting behind him, he would slowly set his bag in the overhead bin. Then he would carefully take off his and put it up, as well. Then he would take off his scarf, fold it gently, and put it into the bin. Then he would take off his coat, fold it, and look distressed. He would take the hat and scarf out of the bin, and put the coat in, and, somewhat relieved, put his hat and scarf on top. Then he would take off his suit jacket, fold it, and look at the pile of coat, scarf, and hat with bag beside them like someone had put them in while he wasn’t looking. Where was he going to put his suit jacket? Tears would start to form at the corners of his eyes, and… well, things usually went downhill from there.

And, when we landed, he would go through the entire process again, in reverse.

I was fascinated by the hat guy, but I became… let’s not say “obsessed with”, but perhaps “interested in” getting a seat in a row closer to the front than he had. I mean, it was pretty funny to watch the first couple of times, and always interesting to see the absolute incredulity of the people standing behind him, but I didn’t like being one of the people standing behind him. I’m the guy who, when I get to the security check, has already transferred everything to my jacket pockets and my PC ready to pull out of my bag. When I get to the gate to board, my ticket is ready, along with my music and the book I’ll be reading on the plane. I do this every week, and it’s not rocket science. Or even physics. Anyways, thanks to the wonders of the telephone check-in system I was usually able to get a seat low in frustration but high in entertainment. He’s not flying any more, though. I don’t know if he stopped working with his company, if his project ended. Maybe he decided he likes the train since he can take 6 hours to arrange his things. But I miss him. I hope that, somewhere, he and his hat are okay.

Much of the rest remains the same, reminding me why, if I’m going to have to travel, this is a pretty good option.

I almost always meet a friend/colleague who is on the same flight.

Darwin continues to recruit their stewardesses, it seems, based almost solely on how beautiful their eyes are. When she handed me my cup of almost-hot coffee and little glass of juice this morning I felt like I was being given… I don’t know… A BRAND NEW CAR! Or, at least, something much better than warm coffee and sample-sized orange juice. Nice.

And then there’s the other view… the sun rising over the Alps. It takes my breath away, every time. It is a heart-wrenching, want-to-burst-into-song, my-God-is-amazing kind of beautiful. I am not much of a scenery guy (except in Tuscany… and Scotland… and maybe one or two other places, but that’s it, really), but the light of the early morning sun reflecting on the snow, the jagged peaks stretching for as far as I can see, the wisps of cloud shrouding the valleys like some sort of divine secret… I am in awe. It’s incredible.

All in all, not a bad commute. Now if I could just do something about the coffee….

[EDIT]: Want more? Click here for the return of the Hat Guy.