Remove before flight

Today I saw a guy with a backpack that had tape across it which said “remove before flight.” It made me wonder if he might be afraid of flying and always carry a parachute fully loaded and ready to deploy.  But, if this were the case, why would he be wearing his pack on a campus where the tallest building is not over four stories. It is more likely that he or someone in his family bought the tape with that message as a joke. It is pretty amazing that duct tape has become such a designer product coming in a variety of colors and patterns. Why not use it to send messages as well.

The other possibility is that he or someone he knows works for an airline. This scenario introduces us to a whole host of other problems such as did they steal it, or gain use of the tape in an unlawful manner? What is the intended use for the tape? Does the guy use the tape for other purposes, such as wrapping presents and sending packages?  It could just be that the guy’s backpack was damaged at the airport and he has not bothered to have it fixed or replaced.

 Metaphorically speaking, there are probably people out there who think that their life moves too quickly. They apply tape to their material items as a reminder to let go of what they have before they move forward. In this sense, the guy was attending college to get a degree and hoped that it might allow his life to take flight.

               
My daughter told me the other day that she never has flying dreams. This makes sense since she is a well-grounded individual. Instead she says she had driving dreams. I think this was said for effect since she’s 15 years old and wants me to know that she’s looking forward to her freedom. We often talk about driving while in the car. I point out tough or difficult conditions or drivers. She usually nods while her brother wants to know the particulars. He’s younger than her and is already sold on the idea of learning to drive with a stick shift, the way I learned. We talk about the practicality of being able to drive almost any car along with the economy of renting a manual transmission in a foreign country.

               
Back to the guy with the backpack, what have I learned from this little exercise in observation? First, I’m no Sherlock Holmes.  If I were I would have observed much more about the individual than the tape and would probably have been able to deduce much more than my current musings. Second, I get distracted easily. This little writing exercise started with a guy in a backpack with tape on it, and ended about me. Finally, that writing 500 words takes a bit more work than I expected. How do writers do it? Even if I had an idea of what to write about, how would I make it interesting to readers?