24

I’m a bit of a paradox. I really don’t like to leave the house, but I do like to visit new places. Today began as any other long journey; I really didn’t want to go anywhere, especially half-way around the world. But since teleporting people still isn’t commercial available, I’m stuck with the usual modes of transport. I didn’t have all the action of, say, a day-in-the-life of Jack Bauer, but my 24 hours were pretty solid.

I did something a bit different this time and took MARTA to the airport. The train ride to the airport was not unusual by MARTA standards. One gentleman close to me had his music exploding into his earbuds and rapped out loud, really loud, to the songs. Another gentleman closer to the back of my train car offered social commentary in between the tunes he freely shared via his harmonica. My favorite part, however, was the train’s driver who gave us the play by play at every stop in Spoken Word style, never missing a syllable. “You are board-ding the south-bound train to the air-port … next stop is Oak-land City Stay-shunnn, board here for the Ful-tonnn Coun-ty jail, Gor-don’s Bail Bonds, my ex-wife’s apart-ment, and oth-er plac-es you will not ever vis-sit. Thank you for choo-sing MAR-TA.” I’m paraphrasing this of course. For the first time ever though, I actually knew where I was at each stop as we journeyed south.

The airport was a smooth operation. When I checked in, I asked if there were any pairs of unoccupied seats. I’d received an upgrade to Business class, so scoring a possible vacant seat next to me would be lottery-like. I have a pretty sensitive nose, so the typical international business booze-and-snoozers basically make me want to gouge my eyes out when they start yawning after they wake up. Sure, airlines always give you earplugs and eye masks, but come on Delta, what about olfactory shielding?

Anyway, great news: the last row of Business had two vacant seats – so I moved to one of them. It was a tense 30 minutes waiting for the boarding doors to close but when they did, I’d struck it rich. No one beside me, no one behind me, and unbelievably , no one in front of me to lean back into me. I was in a pocket, a bubble, a cocoon of space, and I even had a power jack for my laptop.

My good fortune on this flight just kept getting better. I turned on the personal entertainment system and scrolled through to see what they had on-demand. As if they knew I was flying today, there was a BBC documentary on R.E.M. In an hour-long program, I got to watch vintage live performances of some of my favorites like Half a World Away, Daysleeper, South Central Rain, and Leaving New York. It brought a lot of smiles as I recalled the beginning of this summer when my wife and I took our kids to see R.E.M. live. I don’t think I’ll forget that night as long as I live.

During the flight I also watched two movies: 21 and Iron Man. Both were good choices. I was really happy to see Robert Downey Jr. back in action and he really nailed this role. An Iron Man sequel is a sure bet.

Fourteen hours after boarding the plane, I’m back on the ground. Once off the plane, it’s Immigration, Customs, baggage claim, a thirty minute wait for the bus followed by a ninety minute bus ride to Shinjuku.

Now all I have to do is figure out how to work the toilet without getting sprayed, electrocuted, or “cause trouble” as the first rule on the inside of the lid warns.

I’m off to go find some dinner, then sleep.

filed under: marta, r.e.m., tokyo