I’m here at Calgary airport where I have just arrived via a short flight from Grande Prairie. I’m waiting for my friend to pick me up, who is in the middle of rush hour traffic, so I’ve decided to come to this White Hat Volunteers booth and do some work on my computer. I logged into the Calgary Airport Wi-Fi internet access that is so slow that my homepage won’t even load, so I’ve resolved to writing.

At the airport here in Calgary there are seniors who volunteer their time, to help in any way they can – the people who come into the arrivals area of the airport. They all wear, atop their heads the telltale white Stetson, complimented by a red vest, quite similar to the regalia worn by the Canadian athletes at the ’88 Winter Olympics. The booth is there for the volunteers, it is essentially a kiosk. For me it is more of a functional desk. It has 2 power outlets and 3 network/telecommunication jacks and a very accommodating surface that wraps around to the back on the left hand side.

I am now using this kiosk as my work station. I am not really paying attention to the busy people around me but so far I have been called upon twice for help. I have helped as best I can, and to ensure the people asking my help aren’t lead astray and come away with a bad impression of this volunteer organization, I make sure all are well aware that I am not a representative of said group.

I look around aimlessly as my mind cycles through thoughts and ideas and stuff to put into words. I say this so that it’s understood that I am not paying attention to anything other than my hands hitting the correct keys on the keyboard. With that said, I look up momentarily to lock eyes with the most beautiful woman I have seen today. She was walking toward me at a leisurely pace as we both looked at one another; her face was expressionless the whole time. When I say we locked eyes for 7 seconds I mean to say that it was definitely longer than 5 seconds, yet not as long as 10. I was still trying to think of a word that meant ample or spacious as we shared glances, so my intent was purely coincidental - as I’m sure her was as well. The thing about it was she walked right up to the booth and right when I anticipated a question I gave her a polite nod as if to initiate conversation, and at that moment she broke from her gaze and walked right past my work area. I guess she knew I was an imposter.