Workture - A Company-Sponsored Adventure

I'm sitting in the Lufthansa Business Lounge at JFK Airport - grey leather chairs arranged in rows facing one another. At one end is a well-stocked bar of juices, sodas, alcohol, and bar snacks - coincidentally airplane snacks and bar snacks share a lot in common (pretzels, chips, and nuts). At the other end is a TV viewing area with 3-4 screens with all sound directed towards some dedicated seats with attached headphones. You could sit next to someone and watch something while the other person watches something else (note to self: set that up at home!).

Two hours ago I was watching the Blake-Haas US Open match (during commercials interfering FX's showing of As Good As It Gets) with my wife, Connie, in our apartment in Brooklyn. Now, 15 miles away, sipping mineral water in an airport lounge, I feel like I'm a world away. At the line to check in I was feeling all sorts of emotions - frustration for not having my dream of instant check-in fulfilled ( I waited ~5 minutes), anxiety towards a long flight ahead (NY, NY - Hyderabad, India with a stopover in Frankfurt), elation that I am on a little business trip like I always imagined I'd enjoy, sadness that I cannot physically share the feelings with Connie.


This could be one of the highlights of my thirty-somethings, or just another way to pass three weeks not living my otherwise routine life... Either way, I have the time and freedom to do as I please - at least until I get to Hyderabad. And what pleases me most is a vanity shot - a quick fix involving me fantasizing about my friends and family reading some witty paragraph I wrote to detail a triumphant/pathetic moment in my life. I see them each laughing, snorting, being jealous, feeling guilty, smiling an inside smile, quivering with heightened emotion, or getting annoyed and bored. If only for a moment, I will be in their thoughts. What's more, we would be able to share this moment again in person when we meet next - the vanity booster.

My flight is boarding. Blake didn't make it through... It doesn't bother me a bit. So, friend/relative, wish me bon voyage and save a cyber-thought for me.