the best and worst thing about flying every week to chicago is you never know who you are going to meet.
one time i was at the gate waiting to get on standby since my original flight was delayed yet again. there's a douchebag at the counter getting hasty and sharp with the agent at the counter and i was thinking oh what a jerk. (though i cannot fault him completely- flight service people for domestic flights must have graduated at the absolute bottom of their training class). then turns out this jerk gets a seat right next to me on the plane.
i give him a cool reception as he gets into his seat and i try my best to not bump his elbow on the armrest throughout the flight, but i manage as usual to fall asleep terribly- head-bobbing, drool etc. i wake up when the plane touches down and i call for car service. i had to give my name to the car service company and when i hung up, this jerk turns to me and says:
do you work for bloomberg?
yes in fact i do...*wave of fear comes over me*
hi, i am bill doyle from W asset management *omg...*
oh hi! how are you? funny that i end up meeting you on this flight when we couldn't find the time to meet in chicago! *fake laughter ensues and a wave of shame comes over me because this is my client who saw me head-bobbing and drooling in my sleep!*
thankfully, soon after the embarrassing episode, a new team member took over the account and i would never have to face Bill ever again. however, the takeaway from here is that always be nice to people you meet on planes because you never know who they turn out to be.
Heeding my own advice, on yet another day of delays at o'hare, i get up to the gate for the next flight to la guardia and try once again to get on standby. this time there is a harmless looking old man waiting and i ask him if this is the flight to la guardia and if they are allowing standbys. we start talking about how terrible it is to fly out of ohare and other random things. he tells me he works for fox-the president of fox tv. i thought oh ok, cool, maybe he runs a station. i give him my business card and we spend the next hour running from gate to gate trying to get on the next flight. in the end, i get on the earlier flight and forget about this friendly old man.
three weeks later, i am at my desk and who should call but this friendly old man from the airport. he asks if he can take me to lunch and i oblige. who would refuse a free lunch and who knows maybe this old man who runs a tv station can get me a job. after we get off the phone i get an email from his secretary with the details of the lunch reservations and i start to think wow this guy must be a bigger shot than i thought.
the day of the lunch, i casually mention to my colleague tha i am meeting a president of fox tv for lunch. she asked for his name and lo and behold here's what came up from her google search : http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6276873.html?display=Hall+of+Fame
wtf- i then scramble and print out some articles about him and his work ten minutes before my meeting to not seem like a total fool, the whole time cursing myself for not doing this in advance.
during lunch, we talked about travels, his experiences, and although i knew he graduated from the university of illinois, grew up in springfield, gave oprah winfrey her big break, moved from NBC to Fox and was an overall big wig, i pretended to be surprised when he told me he was in the marines, grew up in the midwest and championed the olympic bid for new york last year. we talked about dinner at lupa (the restaurant below my new apt on thompson) and the book the world is flat by thomas friedman that i was reading at that time (and in fact, still reading because i am lazy).
a couple of weeks later, i get a call from this old guy again and he asks if i have moved into my new place. i said, oh yes, i just moved in this past weekend! he then asks if he can take me to lupa for dinner because we talked about it the last time. sure! sounds good i reply, and we set a date for our next rendezvous.
now i am a week away from the lupa dinner with media hotshot and i am getting nervous because everyone including my dad has said all this guy is trying to do is get in my pants. but why, and how can he?? he is about 70 years old and looks a little like santa claus and he has such a high profile, why would he do something stupid like that? my father said being high-profile, rich and old never stopped anna nicole smith's late husband.
like i said, you never know who you are going to meet at the airport, so always be on your best behaviour. i will let you know what comes of my next meeting with mr media man.
