Huey Lewis's News

 

It’s 4am, bright lights and long corridors, groggy hobbling humans absorbing energetic 80s hits. You’d think I’d have learned by now that using “dave” on forms that coincide with my official name “David”, is an unnecessary foray into the irrationalities of bureaucracy. But this often revisited eye-roll experience was actually in my favor today. Very special dave’s like me got to queue special lines to speak with smiling morning-fresh Delta employees, who had not yet been worn down by the hours of frustrated passengers.

She appreciated my pleasant optimism that the “id”, inferior my ego, but absent entirely my ticketed name, would not be a catastrophic misstep. Indeed, she casually sashayed with the gods of post 9-11 rigidity to change my very name, right there at the baggage drop. Remarkable. I was nearly the first whistling passenger through the mess of people who had otherwise cleared the automated baggage tagging kiosks and were waiting to hand-off their checked luggage; and who, presumably, had also spelled their names correctly. Suckers.

So I’m sitting here at a nice little charging desk and looking out at the frozen runways, nearly alone on the edge of a journey. The pilots came first: a mod-squad, lock step with Phil Collins and his brick wall grooves. Then came the passengers, Cindy Lauper, Peter Gabriel, the warm hope of caffeine and comfort of cream. I’m surprised by how smoothly all this is going.

If you know me at all you know that I’m expecting some bomb to drop but so far, everything has just… worked.

My life in Buffalo is secured and ready for dormancy. My dog has a good friend to be with. My last day with my family was literally perfect. I played in the snow with my father and our two very odd and happy dogs, we ate Buffalo pizza and watched old home movies with happy nostalgia. It was idyllic and lovely.

I still don’t feel much, which is nice. I’d rather this just feel normal, and casual, like this is in fact part of my regular life, like I belong in this situation.

Dad gave me some pizza for the road. Mom gave me a Buffalo. Jake gave me a ride. I love my family. Onward.