Sitting Next to a Movie Star
“One of the joys of travel is visiting new towns and meeting new people.” – Genghis Khan
After attending a training seminar in Los Angeles, I decided to avoid the hectic LAX environment, and instead booked an American Airlines (AA) flight from the smaller, and somewhat historic, Burbank Airport.
Given I do not fly AA all that much, I decided to pay the extra $200 to confirm a First Class seat on a journey that would connect in Dallas before making the short jump South to San Antonio.
Seat 2B
My preference when flying a premium cabin is to sit near the front of the aircraft but not bulkhead.
Why?
The meals in this First Class are based on availability, which means that your choice could run out if it is a popular dish. For example, on this flight, there was a chicken and a vegetarian option. After the flight attendant took the orders from the first few rows, the chicken was gone!
Interestingly, I forgot I pre-ordered a short-rib meal for this trip online, so it really did not matter where I sat in First Class.
Wait! I guess it does matter where I sat because 2B placed me right next to a famous actress and singer!
The Experience
About 5 minutes before the flight attendants were scheduled to close the doors and get us on our way to Dallas, a woman stumbled onto the airplane. She appeared a bit nervous and concerned that she was about to miss her flight.
Interestingly, the flight attendants provided a higher level of customer service to this middle-aged lady by helping her locate space for her carry-on luggage. This gave the actress an opportunity to use the lavatory to dry her sweaty face.
You are right!
I had no idea I was sitting next to a woman who has appeared on movies like Natural Born Killers, Cape Fear, Dreamland, and many others.
After 45 minutes in the air, I decided to use the lavatory, and when I returned to my seat, I noticed she had her luggage open on the aisle floor. She apologized for blocking my way and kicked the suitcase to the side.
When she was done retrieving a garment, I asked if I could help place her luggage back in the overhead compartment. She seemed pleased with my help, and it’s something that I often offer to passengers who may need this assistance.
I will tell you that I found her a bit unusual as she sat to the left of me in Seat 2A. I consider myself a fidgety person, but she was a bit more restless than me, moving constantly back-and-forth. She was listening to music on her AirPods, but still the movement had me turning over to her quite often.
We Land in DFW
I kept busy on the 3-hour flight to Dallas by watching a couple documentaries on my iPad, and we landed a few minutes early.
As we waited to deplane, a gentleman behind us said to her, “I’m a big fan of yours! You are wonderful!”
Now I was curious! Who is this lady?
I was immediately behind her as we walked down Terminal B at DFW, and I got the courage to ask her, “Miss, I’m sorry, but I don’t know you, and I heard the passenger say he was a big fan of yours.”
She removed an AirPod from her left ear and said, “Yes! My name is Juliette Lewis, and I am in quite a few movies and TV series.”
I said, “Oh, I’m sorry I did not know. I’m not much of a movie and TV buff.”
I felt my response was a bit awkward, and there were many other nice things I could have said, but it was the first thing that came to me.
From now on, I think I’m just going to keep my Economy seat so I can avoid meeting famous people!
Inspiring Quotes
“I love meeting new people; I think everyone has a story to tell. We should all listen sometimes.” – Kim Smith
“They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” – Carl W. Buechner
Homework Inquiry
During the next week, here’s your homework inquiry: How will you be yourself regardless of who you meet?
I use this opportunity to share with you a unique story and a couple inspiring quotes. Oh ... as a professor at heart, you guessed it, I have a homework inquiry for you. This is a powerful question that might just trigger you to take action on something that really matters in your life. If you feel the Catalyst Newsletter brings benefit to you.