'Switched Off'

I'm a huge fan of Kal Penn and some of the movies he has starred in. Specially the Harold and Kumar series. I can't wait till the next installment comes out sometime next year. Here is a link to the trailer, I strongly suggest you see it to see the context of this post.

I finally got a short break and went partying in Boston last weekend. Hotwire.com , fabulous website to use, specially for us Canadians looking for cheap fares to destinations in the States, as long as you are flying from Buffalo Niagara Airport. As I was waiting to board the aircraft, passing through the various security checkpoints, the Harold and Kumar trailer kept flashing in my head and it took a lot of effort to suppress the chuckles that kept occurring. It was curious on how we were all greeted while entering the aircraft, The hostess was cordial right up till the only brown person ( yours truely) emerged from the concourse into the aircraft. It is true when they say that in the animal kingdom predators can smell fear. She froze for a split second, regained her trained poise and smiled at me, a pensive smile. Now I do understand why, and I do appreciate the effort. I really do. Its way better now than it used to be, at least they are trying really hard not to stereotype people. I can almost hear them say in their minds 'Please don't be one of them, I have a cat/dog/child/husband waiting for me at the end of day.' 'Why my flight ??' 'whyyyy'. I walk along the aisle and I can almost hear most of the passengers echo the same concern. Which is still fine with me, as I'm rather well behaved in public and mind my own business, the polite Canadian, settle into my seat, open a 'politically correct' novel and eventually nod off for the rest of the flight. While disembarking the flight, you are greeted by a beaming crew, no more fake smiles, a relieved look on their faces, 'Have a good day Sir', and they really mean it. Again I can hear their thoughts echo, 'Thank you so much for not flipping that switch and letting me/us live another day!'

Overall, my second visit to Boston was interesting. Met a few people I haven't seen in a while. I know I will be returning to the city many more times in the future, but might not be in the presence of the same crowd. The surprising part was how I managed to 'switch off' from work for 4 days. How it was hard to adjust and function without a mountain of work and the constant tension of meeting deadlines. And we thought highschool and college was tough!

Its good to get back to Toronto. Go back to being 'normal'. Recharged and back to the grind. Fancy a drink ?


Edit: thought i should embed the trailer couldn't stop laughing