As I got into line at the departure gate in SFO, I overheard a man in the group ahead of me about how he served in Iraq and how he has been in the Marine Corps for 19 years. I could tell that he wasn\’t part of the family, but just a passerby. I thought about how anti-war I was and how I have yet to meet someone from the service (in person) that wasn\’t an idiot.

But to my surprise, my seat 27B was right next to that guy from the Marine Corps. One of the first things he said was how he planned to retire after 20 years of working in the Marine Corps. Then how he has been traveling for more than 24 hours straight (and look at me complaining) because he was coming home from Okinawa (apparently, he had to fly from Okinawa to Taipei, then to San Francisco, then to Chicago, then to Memphis). He kept emphasizing how technology was so magical. I nodded in response and gave some general comments such as \”that\’s true\” or \”Sometimes we forget how far we have come\”. I told him how I was flying to Pittsburgh to visit a school in a city that I had never been in. Coincidentially, he spent his childhood in Pittsburgh. Immediately, he ripped off a piece of paper and asked me for a pen. He wrote his sister\’s name on it, telling me to try to contact her. Then a few minutes later, he ripped off another corner of the piece of paper and wrote his name and his e-mail address-\”e-mail me and I\’ll add you to my favorites\”. Realizing how this all seemed one-sided, I stooped down to my backpack, saying that I should give him my e-mail address, but he stopped me. For the rest of the flight, he talked about the best way to sleep in uncomfortable places (fold hands together over chest to feel heart beating, it didn\’t work for me) and how he worked in an aircraft carrier-the grapes, the yellows etc. He asked me if I wanted to grab a cup of coffee later and I said no saying that I had already ate.

We parted at the arrival gate in Chicago O\’hare. I scurried away. I saw him later talking to more random passengers in the airport.