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For a Personalized Autographed copy of “STRAWBERRIES IN WINTERTIME” or “WOODEN & ME” mail a check for $25 to:
Woody Woodburn
400 Roosevelt Court
Ventura, CA 93003
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Clearing Out The Email In-Box A Little
Time and again, I find that writing about the personal is also universal. Such was indeed the case with my column last week “Lowlights From High in the Sky” about some of my encounters while flying.
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“Having traveled extensively hither and yon on airlines, my wife and I are just amazed at the way people dress, or perhaps undress, when air traveling today,” Rick Throckmorton wrote in an email.
“We haven’t quite seen a ‘Shorty Shorts’ (yet), but on our last trip back East recently, we were rather appalled at a traveling group of young women who seemed to be in a contest of who could wear the least and still get boarded.
“Then there are those traveling in dirty work clothes, pajamas (adults not kids), flip flops and the like. And my recent flight from Denver to K.C. in a small turbo-prop commuter, when my seatmate, weighing (no exaggeration) 400 pounds, literally forced me into the window seat, so that I could barely move. Thank goodness it was only a 90-minute flight.
“Ever seen the John Wayne movie ‘The High in the Mighty’? This movie, panned later in the comedy ‘Airport,’ shows how people in the 1950’s dressed when flying. While we don’t expect evening dresses, high heels and suits and ties anymore, people could/should wear business or sports attire when paying hundreds of dollars for their airline tickets.
“If not that, at least to show less of one’s body when perhaps more should be covered up.”
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From Cecilia Weismann: “My only story is about the woman across the aisle from me who took off her flip flops and proceeded to put her feet up on the arm rest only to expose the filthy black bottoms of her feet!”
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“I had an experience on a Greyhound bus from San Francisco to Santa Barbara,” shared Peggy Poehler. “A very large man sat next to me on this trip and fell asleep. As he slept, he ‘grew’!
“He took over all of his seat and was spreading out onto my seat. I had to move toward the center aisle of the bus to get any room for me to sit. I actually had to ‘elbow him’ to keep him from taking over both of the seats!”
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“Thank you for giving the story a voice,” Ventura Judith Smith wrote in response to my column about her autistic nephew Riffy’s caregiver driver, Sunshine, who has hit on hard times and is in danger of losing the mini-van she uses to assist those in need.
“Sunshine saw a rainbow,” Judith added in an update. “An anonymous person is providing an interest free loan.”
Moreover, Star readers have generously contributed more than $1,000 to the Go Fund Me campaign (www.gofundme.com/sunshine-driving-service) to help Sunshine.
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Responding to my column about visiting my son in New York City, and specifically my getting lost en route to the NY Public Library, Bill Grewe wrote:
“Woody, I enjoyed hearing about your trip. When that woman raced back at the subway station to find you and point you in the correct direction, you had found gold. Your trip could have ended then and you would have taken home a lasting memory.
“Like the guy who offered you ice-cold bottled water when he saw you in need at a local park, who are these kind people? I don’t know, but they are worthy of hopping a plane or running a mile to meet.”
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Who are these kind people? You had found gold?
That is precisely how I feel about my readers.
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Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com.
Check out my memoir WOODEN & ME: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach and Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece” and my essay collection “Strawberries in Wintertime: Essays on Life, Love, and Laughter” …
- Personalized signed copies are available at WoodyWoodburn.com
- Unsigned paperbacks or Kindle ebook can be purchased here at Amazon