The (not so) friendly skies

A few weeks ago Skip returned home from a brief business trip. While unpacking, he brandished a new, travel sized tube of toothpaste that he picked up for free on the road. He said that he forgot to pack his toothpaste and went down to the hotel lobby to see if they had a complimentary tube. Unfortunately, they did not, and he was resigning himself to venture out to a drug store when a biker leaned forward. "Hey dude, do you need some toothpaste?" he asked.

Skip said that he, in fact, did.

"Wait a second man. I got some right here," he said, rummaging through a back pack. He then produced a perfectly new, travel sized pack of toothpaste.

"Thanks. I appreciate it. That's very cool," Skip said.

"No problem, man. Just pay it forward, brother. Pay it forward," he replied.

Fast forward a few weeks. So Skip is friendly and enjoys a good conversation. As they say here in the south, he doesn't meet a stranger.

When he travels, he chats up the fellow passengers, and he always returns home saying how he "met the most interesting man/woman/kid/nun/priest/doctor" on the flight out/connecting/return flight. Yes, he's one of those people -- the people who talk on planes. But, he's a good conversationalist, and I think it's probably a productive way to pass the time. Recently he returned with Chick-fil-A coupons after having sat next to a marketing executive with CFA and regaling him with our CFA trivia (we are ardent fans).

Earlier this week he traveled for work, and he found himself seated in a three-seat row on a plane. Skip had the window seat, a gentleman had the middle, and a woman had the aisle. While casually chatting up his neighbor, he learned that the gentleman works for one of his clients, and they began an easy, organic rapport. (Skip confirms that they were talking quietly, weren't laughing loudly, etc.)

At some point, aisle seat (the woman) reached for the flight attendant button. When the flight attendant arrived the woman requested another seat because "these two are driving me crazy" with all the nonstop talk.

I guess she doesn't buy the pay-it-forward philosophy?