It"s About Time

I am a late bloomer when it comes to technology. I got a pager after I graduated from high school. I almost made it to 25 years old without a cell phone. I probably won't have a blackberry before 2010. However, I've decided that I won't live another day without a blog. Now you're probably asking yourself, why should I read anything Adam writes? What makes him so special? The only answer I have for you is: experience. Not the type of experience that you'd find on a Yale graduates' resume, nay, the kind of experience that makes others glad they don't have it. For example, I once gave my cell phone number to a homeless guy. This is precisely the cross section of the human experience that I bring to the table. I promise you'll be entertained.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

The Time I Went Blind



I've been busy lately. I finished up all the crazy travel between the east coast and west coast that spanned my spring and summer. I went to the beach. Twice. I got a promotion. I flew to Phoenix for a day to shoot a correspondent piece for work with Orlando Hudson of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Oh, I also went blind.

The last set of nuptials I attended came just after July 4th. My best friend, Kristen, got married in our home town of Newport News. It was a wonderful occasion, but a busy one for all parties involved. The ceremony and reception flew by and I got to spend just a few mintues with the bride and groom. Before I left, Kristen said that a select few were going to a bar across from the hotel. Even though my flight back to Los Angeles was at 5:45am, I couldn't say no to my oldest friend. Kristen and I have known each other for about 23 years.

Despite the lack of sight I experienced less than 12 hours later, I'm glad I went. Not only did I get to spend some time with Kristen and her new husband, but two other high school friends were randomly at the bar. We lived it up, drank it down and stayed until last call. I got back to my brother's house and in bed by about 2:30am. After sleeping in my clothes, I awoke a mere two hours later and headed to the airport.

My flight to Atlanta went without incident. I slept for the hour and a half, still pretty drunk. Once in the Peach State I had two hours to kill. Instead of drinking water or getting something to eat, I elected for more sleep in the corner of the waiting area at my gate. My cell phone alarm rang as they were boarding my flight to Los Angeles. Again, I passed on liquids or nourishment; a huge mistake.

I had the window seat, next to a nice couple with a baby they passed between them the entire flight. At this point the wonderful affects of alcohol had worn off and the ill affects had settled in. I was getting hot and cold flashes and attempting to sweat out any water still left in my body. I tried to sleep but couldn't. I couldn't read. I couldn't listen to music. I was fidgety and uncomfortable. I thought to myself that I'd never felt so bad in my life. Then I went blind.

At first my vision went fuzzy, sort of like when you rub your eyes to hard. Then it tunneled. Then it went black. I blinked for the first thirty seconds just waving my hand in front of my eyes. I have no idea what the people next to me thought, but I must have looked crazy. I started to panic and felt around for the stewardess call button. When she arrived, I could barely gasp, "Water." I slugged down a couple glasses, but still no vision. I refrained from alerting anyone to my problem for fear the plane would be diverted to somewhere like Kansas City and I'd end up on the news.

A few minutes went by and the idea of running up and down the aisles screaming was looking better and better, diversion be damned. As a last resort I felt around in the seat-back pocket for the vomit bag. I breathed in and out, trying to calm myself back down. Miraculously, some five to seven minutes after I'd gone Stevie Wonder my eye sight returned. It was slow at first. A little gray here. The outline of the seat. Then everything slowly came into focus. I was so happy I could've cried had there been any liquid left in my body. I stayed awake the rest of the way home, afraid to close my ears. I sucked down a few more glasses of water and had a few bags of pretzels. So in short, I've had a good summer. Lots going on. Really looking forward to the winter.