Sunday, March 25, 2012

Day 40 - Jessica & Tony

Two truths and a lie about my tenth and final date: (1) I got to sit in the cockpit of an actual, working, commercial plane (2) My date proposed marriage to me and I said yes (3) I had a terrible time (see end of post for answer key)

Ok peeps, here we are...the end of this crazy, fun, frustrating at times but ultimately rewarding experience. For my tenth date, Becca was so kind and helped me get a date here in Houston, but as usual nothing went according to plan and I ended up stranded in Austin, unable to return in time for the date. After some last-minute shuffling, my dear, beautiful, kind, amazing (insert infinity positive adjectives here) friend Kendyl once again came to the rescue and set me up with Tony.

Tony was working last night at the airport but he said if I wanted to come join him there, he could get me past security and we could have a grand ol' time together. I know many weary travelers who would NOT think this sounded like a fun idea, but I immediately got excited about the idea of frolicking through an abandoned airport at night. When's the last time you heard of anyone having free reign since September 11, 2001? I agreed to meet Tony at the airport with dinner in tow, and the date was set! My assigned day for the date was today (Sunday), but I figured if the date went until 12:01am it could count. (And if you disagree, neener neener, it's already done.)



I arrived at the airport with Thai food I had grabbed to go and walked with some trepidation towards the airline check in where Tony was waiting for me. He had asked for my name and birthday ahead of time and had a boarding pass ready for me. I walked to the security gate (no line!), took off my shoes, and placed them in a bin along with the food. The security guards were in jovial moods and let me through with only a little teasing, and no pat down. I then walked to the abandoned food court where Tony was waiting with his bright smile that was my constant companion for the rest of the evening.

We sat down and began our feast together. Tony is half Mexican, half Philipino Filipino (that's for you, Skylar!) and ALL hilarious! He is a free spirit, and I love it!! Our banter was immediate and ever so entertaining. We had just enough small talk to establish that we both moved to Texas two years ago and then had too much fun just being silly to talk about anything else from our past lives. (Sorry, that means I have no idea if he has all brothers or not). I immediately felt comfortable around Tony, and we laughingly held hands and gazed into each other's eyes, and Tony did in fact ask if I wanted to marry him. Tomorrow. I of course accepted, then asked if we could have kids. He said no, WE can't, but reassured me that I could have them if I wanted. Phew, dilemma solved!


After we finished eating, Tony asked if I wanted to board the plane that had just arrived at the gate after all the passengers got off. Um, duh, yes! We walked to the gate and I waited patiently, smiling and welcoming weary travelers to Austin, while Tony disappeared for a little bit to take care of some work duties (he was on shift, after all). Then, I followed him down the abandoned concourse and entered the plane. Just so you know, being one of two people (three, if you count Tony's coworker who we asked to take pictures for us) on an empty, commercial plane is just as awesome as you'd think it might be. I got to explore the cockpit (I was careful not to push any buttons, as tempting as it was!), skip up and down the aisle, look at all the snack drawers (Tony may or may not have shared some goodies with me), and also Tony and I used the overhead PA and safety equipment to do our very own safety presentation. To an audience of one. He may have thought we were ridiculous, but we thought we were awesome. And Tony totally rocks that neck raft, by the by.

After lots of photo ops and more goofing around, Tony and I left the aircraft and then spent some time just running around the dark and abandoned airport for fun. Maybe we were acting like 6 year olds, skipping and frolicking without abandon, and maybe you should be jealous. I would be.


The rest of the evening was spent playing and laughing some more. Tony is honestly one of the funnest guys I've met in a really long time. His ever-present smile was really contagious, and his quick (as in lightening fast!) wit kept me on my toes all night and I loved the challenge of keeping up with him. By the end of our evening together, I felt lighthearted and invigorated, and really happy to have met such an obviously generous, good and fun man. We parted as insta-friends (in real life AND on Facebook...thank you smart phones) and I am looking forward to seeing him again on future trips to Austin. He was the perfect end to this experience, and it was so nice to go out on a high note!

ANSWER KEY: (1) True! (2) True!!! (3) ABSOLUTELY FALSE, I had a GREAT time!







1 comment:

Rebecca and Cody said...

Hey! I know Tony! Great guy, so funny. What a random small world. I know Becca so that is how I found this blog. What fun stories you all have!