Tour Dispatch 4

Exeter, Charlotte, Dallas, Austin, San Francisco and looking ahead to the holidays.

On my flight from Seattle to Boston through Charlotte, I sat next to a lovely older woman who needed help putting her suitcase up and figuring out how to remove her tray table from the arm rest and it was fine. I hope, if one of my parents needed that kind of genial assistance from a stranger, they would receive it. But she also had some kind of illness that involved endless sniffling and phlegmy coughing and for whatever reason, she refused to wear a mask or blow her nose. I put my earphones in and tried to ignore it but it was all kind of horrifying. In Charlotte, I had a long walk ahead of me and a not too long layover so I stopped in at the Admiral’s Club where there was not an empty seat available. The Charlotte club is a massive space and it was full. Beyond full. And worse, unlike literally every other Admiral’s Club, they are only serving prepackaged foods. I wasn’t hungry so I didn’t really care, but there was something of an apocalyptic vibe. I didn’t stay long. And all of the airline clubs are like this, these days, which defeats the purpose. There are just a lot of people traveling and a lot of people trying to slightly upgrade a generally depressing experience and, well, something is going to have to give.

I was going to Boston for a book event and before that, to receive an award from my high school. My parents and my wife and my sister-in-law joined me (my brother had a work emergency). My dad rented a minivan that was quite roomy! We were all quite impressed because I’m not sure any of us had been in a minivan for a prolonged amount of time before. We drove the hour up to Exeter, NH where a lot has changed (Starbucks! Chipotle!) and nothing has changed (tiny town! bad vibes!). I was actually on campus six years ago or so for an assembly speech and other things so I had seen the old place since high school. It was, though, my parents first time back since I graduated and Debbie’s first time going up there.

Back when I first learned I won this award, I was driving so I had to pull over because I was that shocked. High school was a miserable time for me, as it is for most of us, but I never developed a strong relationship with the school after graduation the way many of my peers did. I never go to our reunions every five years. I contribute to the alumni fund intermittently, and for very specific purposes. And still, it was interesting to go back this time. I met with lots of students who are so bright and passionate (the kids really are okay) and they are going to run the world someday. I hung out with faculty of color and got THE PIPING HOT TEA. I gave a speech upon receiving the award and I did not hold back, which felt good. And I got to thank my parents for their visions for me that were always far grander than what any of the educators in my life could possibly imagine.