It is what it is

The seat belts went together without a struggle since the loss of eighty pounds, but still the thought of this two inch band of tightly woven fabric holding a two hundred forty pound man was ridiculous. I had to strap myself into my car to get to the airport which is equipped with a seat belt and shoulder harness and airbags both front and sides, and now as I sit inside a metal tube that is capable of speeds close to six hundred miles per hour at altitudes around twenty to thirty thousand feet, I am supposed to feel safe.
   It is what it is. I have attempted to refrain from using that phrase. At first when I heard it used in interviews, mostly by pro athletes, I thought, how brilliant! How profound yet simple. I now believe it is a very nice way of saying “No comment.” Very seldom is anything what it is, occasionally it is what it was. You see as soon as something is….it becomes what it was.
   As I boarded the plane the flight attendants all greeted us with smiles and asked “How are we doing?” I was not so easily fooled by the corporate scripted greeting, designed to make us all feel safe, and important, I did not get the feeling that she actually wanted to engage in a conversation as to my wellbeing. I smiled nodded my head and replied in the socially accepted, “Pretty good and you?”   Not expecting nor receiving an answer, I shuffling sideways down the aisle looking for my seat hoping not to be seated next to a guy that is trying to figure out how to add the seatbelt extension.
   I found my seat as luck would have it no one else was seated in the seat next to me. Now seated and properly secured in my own personnel Popeil body shredder, I anxiously waited to see who my seatmate would be. As my hopes rose and fell with each person that appeared from the entrance. Two marines dressed in their b.d.u.’s (Battle Dress Uniforms) took the seat directly behind me. Dressed in a business suit, carrying a laptop case and a bottle of water she sat down next to me. She introduced herself and asked how I was doing………..
  I had never met anyone that worked for the FBI before. She did not look like a spy.   My idea of what a spy was supposed to look like was shaped by the spy shows I watched in my youth.
   The flight attendants wished everyone “To have a great day” I said “Thanks, you too.” Again I did not feel the sincerity that one should feel when someone is hoping that you have a great day. Having a great day would mean that I was going to win the lottery, or the airline was not going to send my one and only suitcase I brought with me, carrying everything I need to sustain my life for the next week, to Eugene Oregon. Since every day is not “Great” having one is more than likely a life changing event. It’s a big deal to have a great day! I think the odds of all 116 passengers having a great day are pretty low.
Oh well “It is what it is”
   Have a great day!
~Owen Burgin~

Sunday Morning Coffee Club

Posted: 03/04/2012 - by Owen Burgin

It is what it is

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