December 23, 2021. Ancaster, Ontario. The Couple.

We chatted while I was waiting at the gate to fly to Charlotte. They were in front of me looking at the board over the gate, which told of a flight 15 minutes before my flight. Normally I do not talk much to people at the gate. I keep my nose in my device or I watch the people. But most of the time I am silent. But not last Wendesday. I commented to them about the puzzle on the board. "Clearly, this is not correct," I said to them. We were supposed to leave 15 minutes after the flight to Fort Worth. I had already checked the monitor in the walkway and it still said gete 3. The husband went back to the big monitor and it still showed gete 3. No one was at the desk. So we started talking while waiting for an official to come to the counter. We already knew we were both going to Charlotte but after that, they were heading to New York. They were a young married couple, perhas 30 or so. This was their first trip to New York and they were excited and a bit scared because everyone has been telling them about the crime. They had tickets to a show and the rest of the time they intended to just wander around downtown and perhaps do a little Christmas shopping. The had to return to Jackson Sunday evening. Both were born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi but he had no accent at all while she had a Mississippi drawl. He has no idea how he got to have no accent. Then he asked me where I was going, which was Toronto. Immediately his face lit up. "I would love to go to Canada," he said. "I work for a company whose headquarters is London, Ontario. They hired me on line three years ago and I do all my work on line. But I have never visited London." Then he asked me if I had ever been to Nova Scotia, telling me that he has read about Nova Scotia and really wanted to spent time there. Well, I just laughed and told my story about Nova Scotia. And I gave him my cell phone. The worker arrived at the gate. The husband found out that we had been moved to gate 4, just across the hall so over we went. And we ended up sitting on the other side of the space so I never talked with them again. It was a gem of a visit and I remember them well. As they were passing me while I was in the plane and they were heading to their seats, he patted my shoulder and said to me,"I have your number in my phone." And we both laughed. The only problem is that I never learned their names. But I will recall this little oonversation, waiting for the plane to Charlotte.