Day 1: Travel

Today I felt like I had won the lottery. On a flight from San Francisco to New York, from sea to shining sea, as the pilot phrased it, I won the lottery of the air: a seat on the aisle with no one sitting next to me. Further, I was the only passenger on the 757 jet who won the lottery of the air.

I immediately flipped up the armrest next to me, let myself spread out just a little bit, and fell asleep.

The flight departed from San Francisco International at 6:00AM on Sunday morning. When I reserved the flight, I thought, “we are going to be flying all day anyway, so what does it matter what time we leave?” Well, it matters when you start figuring out what time to get up in the morning.

Some math: We have to arrive 2 hours early for an international trip – our ultimate destination was
Rome. Then there’s the shuttle . early Sunday morning, it’s about a 45 minute drive to the airport from our doorstep. I need about 45 minutes to fret over last-minute organization, getting dressed and all that, and getting the house shut tight. I set my alarm for 2:30AM. I considered not going to bed at all. I am a late bird, with a usual bedtime between 11:00PM and midnight.

Which leads to the question: which is more painful? Trying to wake up and function after 3 hours of sleep? Or, staying awake all night? Answer: I am too old to stay up all night anymore. I appreciate whatever sleep I can enjoy. And I truly enjoy sleeping. It is one of my favorite activities.

When the aircraft staff announced that they had closed the door and we were about to take off, and I looked at the center seat in my row, I sat up tall and looked down the rows of seats. It was a full flight. I had watched the gate attendants cut off standby, sending disappointed students down the terminal to search for other flights. When I realized that I had truly won the lottery of the air, I stifled a jubilant whoop, took a deep breath, expanding my shoulders over the invisible line separating the seats, slammed the armrest upright, closed my eyes and fell asleep.

Just for the record: before sleeping, I leaned across the aisle to my husband and asked, "Would you like to trade seats?" And, thank God, he said "No."