Trucker on an Airplane

It was surreal
when I plopped into my window seat
on an airplane
flying from LA to Seattle

I could not remember sleeping
for 24 hours
despite trying
in the airport
after missing my flight

Here is the short story
of how it happened:

My friend booked the wrong tickets
from Rio to LA
going through customs
we got separated

Everything went wrong
I got detained
My friend couldn’t call me
His parents sent me a text
“Clayton is near the 7 Eleven.”
I was already at terminal 6
The flight was leaving
Where was my friend?

He was still in customs
by the 7 eleven
Asking a security guard for help
the guard wouldn’t help him

“You are completely useless!” My friend screamed.
“A wannabe cop!”
He pushed him.
The guard pushed back
“I’ll throw you in jail!” The guard shouted.

My friend told me what happened
After we missed out flight

Sleeping in the airport wasn’t bad
But I didn’t sleep
on the cold linoleum floor

We caught our plane in the morning
sitting next to the trucker
“The government tracks us, everywhere we go,” He said
“Area 51, they have been doing experiments on aliens for years
And calling it a hoax
Hot weather balloon, My Ass!
What do you do?”

“I’m finishing my PhD. in Mathematics,” my friend said.
Then he started talking about stochastic processes
And the trucker seemed really interested
“What does your friend do?” he asked
“He’s a psychologist.”
“Oh…” the trucker whispered.
He didn’t try to talk to me
after that

“I’m going on a cruise
when I get to Seattle,
goes all the way to Alaska.”

I was semi-coherent
no sleep
I’d been drinking Coke for 2 days
“There are superbugs on cruise ships!” I blurted out.
“My sister was puking for three days
after her last three day cruise.”
The trucker looked annoyed

Clearly,
he wondered what was wrong with me
But there was nothing wrong
I’d just been halfway around the world
And hadn’t slept for over a day