I’ve had both good and uncomfortable flight-mate experiences, but the uncomfortable ones are the funniest.

Like the case of sitting next to the silver-haired Oregon hippie who spent 15 minutes fiddling in his bag on my seat while I waited to sit down, and then told me the pathetically boring story of his slacker life. Fortunately, I only was doomed to spend half of a 6-hour flight listening because then he turned to the man on his left who had been (presumably) muttering prayers using roughly hewn prayer beads and what looked like playing cards depicting scenes of human torture while sweating profusely and giving us the shifty eye. They somehow connected on slacker lifestyles and I could retreat to my book while the guy across the aisle from me gave me a sympathetic eyeroll and convulsed in fits of silent laughter.

I also sat next to enthusiastic young consultant from McKinsey who insisted on telling me every detail of his current consulting gig, despite the fact that 5 minutes into his monologue I realized — and told him — that he was consulting for a direct competitor of mine and really should not tell me any more. Didn’t slow him down a bit.

But perhaps the most heart-sinking line to hear from the smartly dressed woman who has just plopped down next to you as you are settling in for a 3 hour flight is, “So, have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior?”

People are fascinating.

In high school, I discovered I had a natural talent for public speaking–I won several awards, was selected as an “Outstanding Senior” in speech, and was even elected (by juniors and seniors) to speak at Graduation! There was no public-speaking program in college, but I discovered Toastmasters International–and have won one award after another in it!

And I prefer speaking to a group of strangers (no matter how large), over conversing with a known acquaintance, friend, or relative! Even the women to whom I’m most attracted are strangers!

I agree – I would rather forgo a potential acquaintance than risk awkward conversation. But maybe that’s the issue? Could we all put ourselves out there “in real life” more, invest a bit more in people we meet face to face? Probably.

Since I usually am flying with my 4 year old (who was recently an infant/toddler) I do make eye contact with passengers around us, and let them know – my child is my responsibility and if a seat is kicked please let me know if I miss it. But then with my son seated at the window, my back is usually the outer “wall” of our private cube on the plane.

I’ve noticed most “talkers” are not frequent fliers and talk out of excitement, fear, or uncertainty.

Noise canceling headphones are fabulous -for passengers of all ages – for many reasons!

And one more food to add? Tuna.

Mutual respect on planes goes a long way….

But I also gauge the level if interest of the other person. If we hit it off, then we can chat for hours. Otherwise it’s over to the book, the inflight movie or the trusty iPod.

Testing chat catcher functionality