Was sent on a last-minute trip out to Folsom, California. Yes, it’s the home of a famous prison, and yes, it’s as exciting and adventurous as you probably would imagine it to be.
Chace was nice enough to arrange his own travel plans back to the States so that we could fly into San Francisco on the same flight. The plan was for us to arrive early on Sunday morning, catch the Super Bowl at Jason’s place down in Hayward, and rest up for a night before we went our separate ways.
One thing to know about Chace is that he is a very reluctant flier. It’s not a full-blown phobia, but his fear of something exploding while up in the air is great enough that he has to load up on the anti-depressant Xanax before he gets on the plane. And by load-up, I’m literally talking about taking 4 times the recommended dosage. It was while I was cramming about 30 free sandwiches down my throat in the United business class lounge (courtesy of Chace, throwing his economy-class traveling bum of a friend a bone) that the drugs started to kick in, and “Anxious Chace” turned into “Blabbering Chace.” According to him, after he takes Xanax the only thing he wants to do is talk about hating flying to the person next to him. And usually, the person next to him just wants the talking to stop.
“Man, I really wish you could sit next to me up in business so that I could talk to you. I really want to talk to you man,” he chirped.
“Mmmf—-mmmmf—mmmf.” My mouth was stuffed with food pretty much the whole time.
“I’m come back to visit you, man. I promise. They don’t let your kind up in the front, but I’ll try to head back to galleys where you are and give you a banana or something.”
I guessed he only saved the filet mignon for Luce. Considering my place in the grand hierarchy of his love, I guess a banana was OK.
As we left the lounge and walked toward the gate, I offered him these comforting words: “I really don’t get why they go through the effort of showing us all these emergency procedures, like using the life vests and oxygen masks. When was the last time you heard on the news that a plane crashed over the ocean, but the passengers were safe because they had those ridiculous vests on?”
I’m pretty sure that made him a little more relaxed. I do what I can for my friends.
