Last week, I was sitting in an airport, waiting for my flight to begin boarding.
There was a book in my hands, but I wasn’t reading so much as I was just looking around to see what everyone else was doing.
A couple came by and sit right across from me — A guy and (presumably) his girlfriend. In the guy’s hand was a yellow book.
I only know one yellow book. So I tried to get a closer look to see if it was that one…
Yep. I was right! He was reading Christopher Hitchens‘ God Is Not Great!
I glanced over at his girlfriend… what was she reading? I wondered.
The angle was just right that I was able to catch the cover of her book, too.
Richard Dawkins‘ The Blind Watchmaker.
This raised a dilemma. How do I tell a couple of strangers that I want to bear their future child?
I couldn’t do it. But when the guy looked my way, I was able to mouth “Good book” to him. He smiled and nodded.
It was one of those unspoken bonds you sometimes have with strangers, the type where you both just know you share many more things in common than just the one you’ve discovered.
The only other time that has happened to me was when I met a girl last year who mentioned (in passing) that she read this website called Pharyngula… good times.
In any case, I had a much more pleasant experience than Cailin, who recently overheard two Christians having a conversation about their faiths…
…
One more interesting story connected to that flight. On the “L” train to O’Hare Airport, I sat next to a guy who was much larger than me, very muscular, wearing a nice suit, tight-fitting shoes with no socks. Everything about him was on a level of coolness much higher than I can ever hope for.
His luggage was on the seat next to him. On top of his bags was a massive belt. It looked like a boxer’s belt after he’s won a big fight.
At some point, he looked over at me and (on my hunch) I mouthed “Did you win?”
(I mouth a lot of words.)
He nodded.
We struck up a conversation. I found out he had won thirteen belts in his career — most people never win one. He had won a fight the previous night and was heading to another state for the next one.
I, thinking this was the greatest thing in the world, and having my camera on me, asked if he would pose for a picture. He said yes.
So, here’s Mixed Martial Arts champion Shonie Carter!

If only all my airport stories were this eventful…