August 2003. It was the top of the ninth. The Greensboro Bats had maintained their lead, scoring runs to match the visiting team’s. They only needed two more outs to send their fans home with a win. But the starting pitcher had just been relieved after loading the bases. A man seated behind me shouted …
Category: USA
Cheers, fears and jeers over the Pacific
December 2000. The plane was on its last hour of flight across the Pacific toward Osaka, Japan. A lawyer handed out business cards while flight attendants prepared the cabin for landing. I fiddled with a travel voucher that was handed out to each passenger the last time that the plane was parked at the gate …
Lone man on the bus
June 2005. “De donde eres (Where are you from)? Guatemala?” asked the cab driver. “De los Estados Unidos (From the United States)," I replied. “No hablo español muy bien (I don’t speak Spanish very well).” “Ah!” he said in a knowing tone. “It’s very hard to go north,” he continued in halting English. He grinned …
Desert thoughts
December 2010. A car approached. The voices of its passengers rose with the rhymes of hip-hop that blasted from its innards. “Don’t stop. Please, don’t stop,” I closed my eyes to send my plea to the heavens. The shouts and music faded. The sound of the Sonoran desert returned – silence. It was the day …
The madman and the car crash of 2017
May 2017. The glowing “comet” descended from the ceiling as Josh Groban sang the last words to the final number of the musical, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812. The crowd at the Imperial Theater gave the cast and crew a well-deserved standing ovation for its 12 Tony Award nominations. Watching the War and …
Uncivil aviation
May 2017. My 6 p.m. American Eagle flight to Nashville was all set to take off on time. Boarding was smooth and I was mildly surprised that I had a whole row of seats to myself. The flight attendant was about to close the door when the gate agent appeared and announced, “We need eight …
Beer, flamingos and academics
January 2011. “Why is he wearing a hat indoors?” Signor Ferracuti whispered. I glanced at the man with a black beret sitting at the next table. “That’s a sign of ill-breeding in Europe,” he added. I shrugged and smiled at his incredulity. It was an odd complaint from someone attending this 3-day academic conference in …
To trash or not to trash?
July 2018. That’s the question that befuddled me as I scanned for a table at the half-empty McDonald’s restaurant in Rome’s Termini train station. I scouted for a clean space amid all the half-eaten and wrapper-filled food trays that diners had left behind. After clearing away the waste from one table, I pondered the answer …
Orphaned luggage
October 2010. I’d been at it for more than an hour, searching for a rare gem from the piles of quartz on the shopping floor. I scored an angora wool coat for 23 US dollars and a decent Sony digital camera for about the same price. New shipments came in regularly, I was told. “Just …
Courtside with my father
September 1997. American Pete Sampras had easily beaten Alex Rădulescu of Romania in three sets at the US Open Tennis Championships. From the stands, my father leaned back contentedly on his seat. He recounted some of Sampras’ best points. We might not have been courtside, but he must have felt like we were. I flew …
Unlock the door. 