I'm sitting in Rome Ciampino airport. I notice a young woman near me in the terminal because she's reading The Kite Runner, an excellent book. She also looks American.
I go to stand in line at the gate. I'm first in line because I'm intent on boarding first and getting exit row. (Little did I know I was first in line for the shuttle to go to our waiting plane in the middle of a runway...these no-frills airlines do it their own way...) This same young woman gets out of her seat 10 minutes later and stands behind me in line, #2.
We land in Santander, Spain, an unremarkable town with a little airport. I head off to the tourism desk to figure out how to get to San Sebastian. I get a ticket to a bus that leaves in a couple hours, so to kill the time grab lunch at a cafe that happens to have free wi-fi (what luck!).
I board the bus to San Sebastian in the afternoon. Wouldn't you know it, this young lady is also on this bus. The same bus as me going to the same small town in Spain coming from the same small town in Spain!
After arriving in San Sebastian I don't see her again. We go our separate ways. Until....today....on the beach. It seems we both "settled down" in San Sebastian for a couple days and both happened to pick the same beach for an afternoon tanning session. Yes, after rolling out my towel, there's the woman, still reading Kite Runner, sitting only a stone's throw away.
Look, I believe in randomness, but is this too weird? Yes. I need CTU San Sebastian NOW! Jack Bauer help me! I don't want to talk to her because that may tip her off and she'll instead send some other agent (or crazed blog reader?) to follow me who I won't recognize.
I should note that while writing this post I was IM'ing with my fearless mentor Brad Feld, whose advice was, "Don't forget, you're bigger than them." He is right about that. If I see this chick tomorrow on my night train to Barcelona, I'm going to ask no questions and just go Chuck Norris on her.
dude - get off your ass and introduce yourself. there's no time like the present!
Posted by: seth | July 10, 2006 at 03:56 PM
Ben, the 007 approach might be more pleasant than the Chuck Norris one :-)
Posted by: Zoli Erdos | July 11, 2006 at 05:59 AM
Because the other guys aren't asking the obvious question, I'll have to chime in. Was she hot?
Posted by: Chris Yeh | July 11, 2006 at 05:25 PM
Ben, what does it mean to go Chuck Norris on a "chick"?
Posted by: Tim Taylor | July 13, 2006 at 09:30 AM