19 November 2009

Tipper

I love wacky old people, I truly do. Perhaps because I am pretty sure that is my future I have a soft spot for them. I had a humongous soft spot for an 82 year old passenger that was traveling with her little dog Tipper, on my last flight.

Tipper was traveling in style in a soft sided duffel bag carrier, so she could fit under the seat for take off and landing. She had the sweetest little blanket and toy with her. Did I mention Tipper was a toy dog?? Not a toy poodle, but a mechanical dog that barked. Truly.

My sweet old passenger explained that her real life dog died , she replaced her with the mechanical dog to keep her company. I suspect the real dog was killed by secondhand smoke, based on the passengers bag filled with cigarettes and her Kool menthol scent, but was not about to tell her that. I brought some cookies for Tipper to snack on, it seemed the right thing to do.

Apparently if you are wacky in any way, or could appear in a Tennessee Williams novel or be a family member of David Sedaris, I will be charmed by you on the flight. Kooks of the world I fly from Washington to Frankfurt tonight, please schedule yourselves accordingly.