Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Word Travels Fast in the Twin Cities

On Friday night I flew from Las Vegas to Minneapolis to attend a conference. I am used to being approached and taking part in conversations with strangers, but for some reason I have never had a truly memorable experience on a plane -- until now. As I took my window seat on the flight leaving sin city two guys took the two seats next to me. I don’t think I had even sat down when the guy in the middle seat, right next to me, said “don’t worry, I’m not one of those people who will talk your ear off.” That’s always a bad sign.

Loudmouth Leon (as I will refer to him here) was a tall (almost uncomfortably tall for this seating arrangement), dark haired man in his mid-thirties. What he lacked in looks he definitely made up in personality. For the first forty-five minutes of the three hour flight Leon kept the conversation flowing. I learned that he had just spent the last several days in Vegas with some of his friends (which were dispersed throughout the plane). He asked me about the book I was reading, what movies I liked, what I did for work and shared his recommendations of the places I should visit once on the ground in Minneapolis. About thirty minutes into the conversation he gave me his card and told me to call him if I had time and wanted to hang out with some good people during my trip. He also made it a point more than once to mention that he doesn’t just hand out his cards and in fact has never done so on a plane before but that I just seemed like a good person. I kindly thanked him and read my book for most of the remainder of the flight. Once on the ground we deplaned and I walked to baggage claim. Because we were on the same flight Leon was not far away as we waited for our bags. At this point he had been reunited with his friends but made it a point to say goodbye to me and again extend his offer to be my tour guide.


It was less than a minute after he left that the world got smaller. As I stepped closer to the baggage carousel to watch for my bag I also took a step closer to a very attractive women with great style who I would guess to be around my same age. I guess she had observed my interaction with Leon because she turned to me and said “I’ve met that guy before, but I couldn’t remember his name.” She was very nice in the way she approached me and continued to tell me she had met him at a local networking event a while back. She must have had a similar experience to my own because she disclosed that she went back to her office that day excited that she may have met a dating prospect (she was new in town at the time, so meeting someone fun and new was very exciting). Fortunately for her, she shared her experience with a co-worker who must have also had a similar experience. The co-worker quickly pulled up Leon on Facebook to reveal that he was not exactly who he portrayed himself to be. For starters, he had three kids. Now, I’m sure the women had nothing against kids, but was shocked by the information simply because it wasn’t how Leon had represented himself. In my own experience he seemed to work hard to set a reputation of a fun-loving, single man who enjoyed his family (though no mention of children specifically). In fact, he mentioned several times how he has no plans of settling down, EVER.

Obviously, Leon has created quite a reputation for himself in Minneapolis, so much so that I didn't even have to leave the airport to dig up some dirt. Not only was it a fascinating way to begin my time in a new city but most importantly,this situation renewed my faith that women can still watch out for one another and girl code still exists.

So, here's a question to ponder: does Leon's misrepresentation of himself make him a smooth operator or a slime ball player?