Mamacita says:  Something some of you might not know about me is that I love meeting people, and I tend to strike up conversations with them without ever knowing their names.  I’m also a bit of a card shark.

My specialty for this seems to be airports.

A few years ago I was traveling with my mother, and we were stranded in Chicago at O’Hare for an entire weekend, waiting for the weather to improve.  While she tried to sleep in an upright chair for two nights in a row, I roamed the airport in the dark, looking at the closed shops and wishing they had the sense to stay open at night; people traveling on red-eye flights liked to shop and eat, too. And the shops would make some serious money if they opened up for marooned travelers, especially this many.  But no.

What I did find was a large group of international travelers playing poker.

I watched for a while, and when they gestured me to join them, I did.  None of us spoke the same language, but poker requires only gestures and the ability to deal, so everything was fine.  Nobody had any chips, so we played for straws.  The night passed by quickly.

Another time, while hanging around the Houston airport on a loooong layover, I was invited to join a table of elderly men for some euchre.  After a few rounds, they invited me to join them for something else, but I declined.  I did, however, play another round of cards before thanking them and excusing myself to roam some more.  I suppose I should have been furious, but I wasn’t.  It was just funny.  I laughed then and I’m laughing now.  If you want to talk lawsuits, indignation, and harassment, go read somewhere else.  At my age, I’ve learned to laugh at many things that once filled me with indignation.  Besides, at my age, I’ve also learned that a compliment is a compliment, however backhanded.  There was another woman at the other table who wasn’t asked, so there you are.  She looked even older than the elderly men, and I’d also guess that she’d been weaned on a pickle, but I’m just sure that wasn’t why.  🙂

Just this past weekend, while waiting for my plane, I joined a group of guys who were playing poker by gate B19, and the minutes whirled past like magic.

My point?  Do I have to have one?  I guess I could drag one in by the hind legs and say that if you’ve got time to kill, don’t kill it; use it to play poker with old men who think you’re still hot even in the bright daylight make new friends and have adventures.

P.S.  In case I forgot to say this in our mutual rush for the plane, gentlemen:  thanks for the eight bucks.  Suckers.