The Cat Woman

Life is meaningless without perspective. Jackie and I chanced to meet an older woman (anyone older than us is “older”) while standing in line for the second security clearance. At her feet was a carrying bag designed for small animals, and yep you guessed it, she had one in there! She had a very docile little cat who we later found out was not drugged at all, but was very used to such travel. (This should have been our first clue to run the efff away.) Jackie, of course, made a fuss over the cat, having abandoned our three cats to the care of friends and, well, Jackie’s mother. Jackie asked, in French, about the cat and saw the roll of the eyes from the woman. Jackie then asked if she preferred French or English. The response was, after a sigh, was, “whatever you want lady.” Taken aback, Jackie asked if she was all right. Her response was, “No, not at all.” So, being the fixer of broken hearts, Jackie said she was sorry and the woman engaged, in English about how, very, very disappointed she was with l’Avion. This was the first time she was flying on this airline and it just didn’t seem to be worth the $1,000.00 she saved by flying this airline vs. AirFrance in business class. She travels to France at least 6 to 8 times a year to stay at her home in Nice and attend the multitude of soires they have for “those who can afford to have second and third homes in the French Riviera. She told us of one event that is held each November in Nice for all the Americans who “winter” there. It is a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and gala ball. She said she sat next to a military officer of “some rank” (which she implied was a HIGH rank rather than just some rank) who asked her if the woman who had just left the table was wearing real diamonds. She told him, that yes they were real and there were at least $1m worth of jewels on the women at this event. She made quite a point to tell us over and over that the circle in which she runs is of course quite elite. I asked her what details made this such a “disappointing” flight. She said the seats didn’t fully recline into a full bed, the food was not quite as good and they only gave you a blanket rather than the plush comforter. So I suppose having about 3 more degrees of seat recline, even MORE fabulous food and a better blanket would have been worth the extra $1000. While I wanted to say, “hey lady, how many starving Ethiopians could be fed on the $1000 you saved,” but of course I didn’t. I just killed her cat.