For my NYC trip last fall I had packed a new book and was looking forward to reading it on my plane rides there and back. Most of the time I was able to but on one flight I was only able to read a couple of pages before I was interrupted by the person sitting next to me.
He was an older man in late 60s. He was talkative-very talkative. I tried going back to reading several times but his small talk kept being intrusive. It soon became apparent that I’d have to be rude to get him to stop talking.
It was too early in the morning to get that bitchy. Instead I decided to pretend he was a new phone client. During my trip I do any PSO calls, which was fabulous. But I had to get back to it once home. Why not warm up on this guy I thought?
So I became the pleasant listener. During the whole flight we talked about his life-his work, his ex-wife, the divorce, their kids, his travels post-divorce. The plane ride was a couple of hours but it felt much longer. He just went on and on and on. When the flight attendants came by with their beverages he remarked to them that we were having a great time.
He was having a great time but actually I was quite bored. I didn’t have anything in common with the man and his stories soon became repetitive. Still though I played nice. It felt like a game. I was giving the appearance of being completely interested and entertained by this man and he believed me.
None of the conversation was sex related but it still felt like a PSO call. He was a lonely man in search of company. That describes many of my clients. After the plane landed and we were allowed to stand up (I’ll save my airplane gripes for another post) the man turned to me and said, “Wow you’re a great listener”. He was in a great mood.
I smiled and said thank you. Though it wasn’t an entertaining conversation it was a good experience for me. I still had the magic touch baby!
Posted by Vixen as PSO Confessions at 9:13 PM CST