The recent trip to Vancouver was an odd one for interesting in-flight bedfellows. There was, of course, The Sarah McLachlan Moment, highlighted in an earlier post. On the return trip, as my co-worker and I were waiting at Vancouver airport to board our plane, the gate agents preboarded the plane with people accompanied by small children and others who needed assistance or a little extra time. In a wheelchair, a mid-forties, completely bald, and otherwise very fit-looking man with amputated legs wheeled past us and onto the plane. I don't usually do this, but I looked to my co-worker, a man who is constantly cracking jokes, and I gestured to the wheelchair-bound man as he disappeared into the jetway, and said, "He doesn't have a leg to stand on." My comment got the reaction it deserved - silence - and we prepared to board.
As I had done on the trip to Vancouver, I had put in for and received an upgrade to first class. I arrived at my seat, and who should be in the seat next to mine but the man whose misfortune I had made light of only minutes earlier! He spoke with a distinctive accent when we made our niceties, and I guessed correctly that he was Australian. Our small-talk led us to our reasons for going where we were going, and he said that he was headed to Chicago because he was taping with Oprah Winfrey the next day. HELLO!
I asked what the show was to be about, and he said that it was about people who had beaten the odds and survived horrendous ordeals. His was the two days he had spent in 1997 with his legs pinned under the side of a rock cliff that had broken free when he tried to climb it, while his friend went for help (two days away!!) and he kept himself alive who knows how.
His name is Warren MacDonald, and his "Oprah" episode will air "in August or September." Still an active climber, he has written two books - "A Test of Will: One Man's Extraordinary Story of Survival," and "One Step Beyond" - and he is busy with his new career on the public speaking circuit.
And the karma part of this story... I woke up after about a half hour of sleep - something I don't usually do so much on a plane - to discover that the flight attendant had served breakfast to everyone in first class except for me. I looked over at Mr. MacDonald's tray and he had a scrumptious-looking omelet with sliced ham and a sausage on the side. When I caught the flight attendant's attention, she informed me that she only had the fruit plate left. To add to my disappointment, most of the fruit sucked.
When you look for Mr. MacDonald's turn on "Oprah" in August/September, as I know I will, just remember that the day before he sat with Oprah, he sat with Farrago. And hope that he gave her my card and that she'll throw some work my way.
dassall
2 comments:
Very interesting, Mr. Farrago, the people you bump into while traveling. If you ever find out the exect date of the telecast, please post it.
BTW, I don't think anyone reading this would have interpreted your comment as mean-spirited. I do that sort of thing all too often.
I think Mr McDonald took your breakfast while you slept -- ate yours AND his own. Probably picked your pocket, too. Ah, the old 'legless' ruse. Old chinese proverb: never close your eyes around a legless man.
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