J.P.

We are onboard United flight 1716. It’s a Boeing 737-MAX/9. We are at 34000 feet.

We are at PHL Philadelphia Int’l Airport awaiting our flight. The rental car had to be back at the lot a little early to avoid another day’s worth of fees, so we are at the airport a little early. It’s the perfect time to take advantage of our passes at the United Club.

I’m missing traveling a lot. Since the pandemic work has slowed down on travel a bit, though they’ve started up with some travel again over the past few months. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to do some quality travel for work and pleasure in 2023, because I really enjoy the Jet Set Life.

As Jeannie’s sister once said, “Your Major Nelson has Jet Set potential and you’re a horse and buggy genie!”

Over breakfast I was mentioning to Earl that one of the reason I get into a “funk” at home is because I’m not interacting with the public enough. It’s not that I want to interact with the public, but I like being around the energy of being in public, from a corner where I can watch. I have always enjoyed people watching. Working from home, playing at home, and spending Saturday nights at home is kind of wearing on me. Since the pandemic is as close to “over” as it’ll ever be, and let’s face it, COVID is never going away, I’m happy to see public life getting back to something akin to “normal”. I’ve never been “normal”, my thought processes just don’t work like typical though processes and cover a whole spectrum of things at any given time, but interacting with the community in some sort of way gives me energy.

Until I have to rest from it.

I had forgotten that many of the gas stations in Central New York require that you hold onto the pump handle for the duration of putting fuel into the vehicle. There’s no little flippy thing to hold the handle in the on position until the pump senses it’s time to turn it off.

I do not enjoy this, especially in the frigid cold weather of Central New York.

I found an article from 2014 in Rochester’s Democrat and Chronicle that indicates there are two states in the nation that don’t allow the hold and close clips, and that’s New York and Massachusetts. There’s a petition on change.org that is petitioning to allow these mechanisms to be used in New York. Whether the hold and close clips are allowed isn’t the issue in the law, the issue is that New York requires a person present to dispense gasoline into their vehicle and this is how the filling stations follow the law. There’s stickers that say things like “don’t wedge your gas cap into the pump nozzle”. One sticker had a user added advisory note, “use a screwdriver”.

Many years ago there was an overzealous cashier at a Wawa in the Poconos that would turn the pump off every time someone stepped away from the pump while filling up. This was occurring in the middle of a torrential rain storm, and even with the presence of hold and close clips on the pumps, she felt the need to end the transaction if you got yourself out of the rain while the pump dispensed gasoline into the vehicle. I went in and complained several times, along with every other customer at the station at the time, and she was adamant. There was talk of forcing her and her cash register out into the rain but we just paid the $1 she allowed to be pumped into the tank and went across the street to the filling station where folks were friendlier.

I miss friendly folks.

I’m a big fan of traditional American main streets. I enjoy perusing the business districts of small towns across the country. Some are making a resurgence; some are in horrible disrepair.

Friendly Mill Street in Bristol, PA has been making a bit of a comeback since our last visit several years ago. There are hardly any closed up store fronts. Cafes, small antique shops, and other locally owned businesses populate the street near the Delaware River, and it is wonderful.

I feel online presences are desperately trying to replace the American village in the sense of becoming a new community. Online connections are wonderful. I have made lots of friends over the Internet, but the friendships really become a connection when we meet in person. I don’t think online interactions will ever replace in person connections where two humans have the opportunity to exchange energy in some way.

I hope before I end this life I’m able to see a real return to the town square, the community center, or the quaint main street. I feel like there’d be less screaming at one another and more positive energy exchanged.