Flight #14 - a typical dull Swede

So on my flight from Arlanda to London Heathrow on Thursday night I sat next to a woman who was flying with either her daughter or a colleague. The woman was Swedish and was so dull that she's the type of person you wouldn't notice if I wasn't writing this blog.

Very boring clothes. Definitely a case for Extreme Makeover or Fab Five or whatever they are called. Slightly chubby. No make-up, the conversations she was having with her colleague/daughter seemed quite boring too.

Having said all this, she seemed like a very kind-hearted person. It wouldn't surprise me if she was a mother and if so a very good mother. She was concious of me sitting next to her and accomodating as well. I think she's probably never been told she's great or pretty or anything and just gets on with it really.

Needless to say I've sat next to a lot worse people but definitely nobody that I'll remember even a week down the line.

Flight #8 - The Managing Director

So flight number 8 between Stockholm Arlanda and London Heathrow terminal 5 was another good flight and another good plane buddy.

His name was Gary and this was one of those trips where I actually spoke to the person sitting next to me. And we spoke the entire time. He was the MD for a Swedish company called SystemAir that does ventilation.

It was an extremely interesting 2 hour flight with lots of insightful as well as funny stories. I won't tell you them on the blog because it has to be told but ask me about it. It includes one story about him wondering about someone he was sitting next to on a train (a bit like this) and making his mind up about them. They were acting in a very strange way and hence he was staring at them but the story ended with her thinking he was the creep. :-)

We're all intrigued about other people.

Gary was well dressed, clearly not a city-dweller (he lived in Oxford) and had an interesting background including being a stutterer, losing his parents at an early age and being a very sympathetic guy.

He was a Leeds fan although he had lived in Oxford his entire life. He is a great sales guy, generally interested, well-spoken, great eye-contact, leant in at times. Friendly.

One trick he used when he spoke in front of big groups of people who were loud and roudy and wouldn't shut up was he would open his mouth as if to speak but would appear to stutter. People all wanted to hear what he had to say so they all shut up. :-) Interesting tip.

He had two young kids (18 months and 4 years old) and had had them quite late (when he was in his fourties). His wife was also in her 40's). He had been working for that company for 25 years.

Interesting how people generally speak a lot more when it is in the evening or lunch time and when they are going home and it's weekend. It's also strange how up until now I've had more conversations with guys.

Very interesting chat and there are some great people out there in this world with great stories and sharing them is fun.

Flight #4 - The Big Boss man

To date, this is my FAVORITE seat buddy or flight partner.

His name was Steve and he was the Head of Sales for Scania in the UK. We were flying a 767, a big plane from Stockholm Arlanda to London Heathrow and the flight was delayed by 90 minutes.

We spoke the entire journey which is the first time in a while I've sat next to someone I've genuinely been interested in and him me. It didn't look like he was irritated by it.

He was a man in his 50's with kids in their teens. He had worked in the Trucking world for 20-30 years and had a lot of great insight. Travelled to Sweden quite a lot.

Well dressed, well spoken and very friendly. It was clear why he was in Sales. We discussed everything from Football to Technology and his only negative was that he was an Arsenal fan.

He definitely looked like he enjoyed life and was a very humble and down to earth kind of guy. So far my favorite.

Flight #7 - the empty seat and the looney in front

My flight AY649 from Helsinki to Stockholm at 2005 was empty. I'd be sugar coating it if I said it was 25% full. Think there might have been 30 persons. So needless to say - I got a seat alone!!!

I was in row 15 I around 25 and I was the furthest back guest.

With no one sitting next to me I guess I still need a story and the person sitting one row ahead and across the isle can do it.

An older gentleman with an awesome moustache. Well dressed but clearly caught in the 60's/70's corporate dress sense. His bag (which i saw when we landed) must have had a ver proud history of travelling!!! It was ancient. His travelling companion had a Finnair sticker on his old school briefcase that must have been handed out on Finnairs first flight.

They were both Finnish and they were some of the last on the plane and spoke finnish with strangers around. They felt like this was the first time they'd flown for a while. Dressed up to the extreme but clearly travelling on Business. They flirted with the flight stewardesses as well.

Funnily enough for an empty flight. The guy was standing up before we'd even reached the gate and was walking around.

All in all one of my favourite characters so far. I will call him Pekka.