OCTOBER 2010

there's not much moving on the tarmac on new years day, 2008.
you have an 8 hour layover in chicago
young enough to enjoy the freedom of being far from home, traveling alone,
old enough to have something better to do.

so you sit there and watch slow moving machines and people,
hunched against the cold, with orange earmuffs and gloves
from the end of a deserted terminal, 24 gates long,
while a custodian mops the floor down by gate 12
or maybe 14.

and even though you consider yourself very observant,
you won't notice until the summer of 2010 when you are flying home from Africa, on friday the 13th,
that airports don't have 13th gates,
and airplanes don't have row 13's.
when you realize this you will tell the tourists next to you who are considerably older than you, but will be equally as surprised.
even though they look like the kind of people who have flown on lots of planes,
and therefore should know these things.

anyways, back in chicago on new years day,
you're bored with nothing to do
so you entertain the thought of jerking off in the bathroom for a while.
3 months and 10 days later you will be checking in at JFK,
on your birthday.
your dad told you happy birthday when you woke up,
but your mom didn't remember until the lady at the check in counter looked at your passport
and mentioned outloud that you had just turned 16.

so you go through security and you're in the terminal again
and you get three text messages from three friends,
and you think it would be nice if you could sleep through the entire flight,
because you were up so late last night.
and when you land in Argentina it will be tomorrow,
and that won't be so bad.

but anyways, back in chicago on new years day,
you have four more hours of sitting still left to do,
but you don't have cellphone service,
and the news anchor on tv will continue talking
whether or not you were there to watch,
and the custodian is ignoring you,
and it's not so bad.