Finding Lolita

Good evening Romers! After a relaxing week under the San Diego sun, I have finally returned to Northern California. What a vacation. Being back at school felt a little surreal, but I quickly felt myself transitioning back into the life of a student after only a couple of days.....showering/staying in the dorms (what memories), spending hours socializing in the cafeteria, running into former professors, sipping lattes at the fountain and watching students amble along the promenade, capitalizing on every last ray of sunlight before class....

Well, needless to say, it was beyond fabulous catching up with old friends and meeting new ones, and made me excited to think that I get to go back to graduate school in a few months!! What made this trip even better is the way that it all started: the airport.

Now I'll admit it, I have a bit of a fetish with airports. Sometimes, I feel like it's where I belong more than anywhere else in the world. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you can assume an alias for that short flight (I've introduced myself as a professional tennis player once, just to keep things exciting). Or maybe it's the "transitional" nature....so many emotions stir the atmosphere of an airport--joy, anger, excitement, loss, fear, loneliness, love, anticipation, and my personal favorite: lust for the cute guy sitting at your terminal! Well, such is normally the case. It never ceases to amaze me how many attractive people I come into contact with at airports (the mystery is soo intriguing!), and it makes it all the more thrilling to wonder if maybe I will be on the same plane, or even better, the same row as the unnamed cute guy I just ran into at Starbucks. In any case, it turns out that I did spot an attractive young businessman while standing in line at Peet's Coffee (think Luke Brandon from Confessions of a Shopaholic), and we exchanged smiles and a hello, but as luck has it, I later saw him at the Chicago gate..*sigh*

Although Luke Brandon and I lost our opportunity at fate, I knew it was time to get to my gate. I strategically took a seat behind a girl with the largest bump witnessed by mankind (displayed above.) It was simply too impressive to sit anywhere else but in her blind spot so that I could sneakily snap a picture and prove bumps of this size do in fact exist (think of a bumpit on steroids). Feeling quite proud of my recent finding, I began scanning the others at my gate....people watching being my favorite hobby of all time, I capitalized on this perfect opportunity and watered my eyes with the sight of people typing on laptops, reading novellas, text messaging, and checking their nails constantly. I couldn't help but notice a man (let's call him Humbert Humbert) continually chatting up several women surrounding him. I didn't think much of it, given that I was hypnotized in my own train of thought, and proceeded to line up as my number was being called.

My plane was full of young women, students from SDSU and UCSD for the most part, who were presumably finishing spring break and heading back to school. As luck would have it, Humbert strolled up to the area just in front of me, and claimed his place in line with a hearty laugh and a joke to the two girls standing ahead of me. Again, didn't think much of it. That is until he turned around and asked if these two girls knew how the weather was in San Diego....and where they study.....and how old they were. The polite, nonchalant responses these girls no older than 18-years-old were giving began turning into annoyed, aloof words. I couldn't help but laugh a little, internally of course, at what this man was trying to do. It got even better when he turned around again and softly caressed one of the girl's arms, shoulder to elbow, and stated he was envious of her beautiful tan. I got to witness their disturbed looks when he finally entered the plane, and hoped to God I wouldn't have to sit next to Humbert.

creeping at baggage claim

As I found my seat at the very back of the plane, Humbert took a seat in the next aisle over from me, surprise surprise, next to another 20-year-old student. This girl was actually quite chatty with him for the entire hour and 20 minute flight, and seemed to really enjoy the attention he showed her. Thankful that I had escaped the chitchat, I opened my book and began getting lost in the drama brewing between Jean Valjean and Javert, only to be constantly interrupted by the deafening announcements from the stewardess every time I began re-reading a sentence (typical). After the short flight, I proceeded to the baggage claim to collect my belongings. As I took my eyes off my phone at the carousel, none other than Humbert was looming over me, scouring his brain for something to say. "Those are some nice boots you're wearing!" he chuckled in a familiar, overly friendly voice. "Thanks..." I muttered as I anxiously waited for my luggage to roll off the belt. I felt his look piercing into me as my eyes darted back and forth, looking for a polite way to move away without looking too rude. "What's your business in San Diego?" he said with a wide grin, accentuating the yellowness of his teeth under the fluorescent lighting. Given my predisposed feelings about Humbert from watching him attempt to strike up conversations with several young women for over an hour and a half, I quickly shot him my best 'I know what you're doing and it's gross' look. "Just visiting people.." I said. Thankfully, I saw my bag dump out onto the carousel and I swiftly grabbed it and walked out the doors. Needless to say, in that short period of about 2 minutes, I witnessed Humbert begin eyeing yet another 19-year-old girl clad in a baggy SDSU sweatshirt, ogling her up and down....REALLY!? And so the great cycle continues...