PART 1: One pinch oblivious B-tch. Two pinches oblivious drunks.

Six hour flights are always a challenge. It's a gamble who your fellow travelers will be, and you always are left crossing your fingers that it is going to be someone nice. Sometimes the gamble pays off...sometimes it doesn't.

After boarding a plane that was going from Boston to Seattle, I engaged in a wonderful conversation with row-mate of mine about the book, Invictus. He had seen the movie, which I hadn't, and we were having a great time talking about the differences between the two. Being that I had just booked to South Africa, I commented to him about how excited I was about seeing the places they talked about in the book. He was excited for me, said how he wouldn't mind doing that either, and asked me where I was going.

Just then our center older and overweight female row-mate showed up. I moved into the aisle to let her in and smiled. She responded that, "she couldn't believe how long it took her to get on the plane." Politely, I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Yeah, it can be tough at times," to which she didn't say anything back to. So, I decided to respond to the window row-mate I had been talking to about South Africa, because he had asked me a question.

"I am going to Johannesburg for one day, Kruger National Park for four days, and Cape Town for six days. I couldn't be more excited," I said as I sat down and buckled my seat belt. My fellow window row-mate said, "Understandable. I would be too."

"That place is awful. It's so dangerous, and your really shouldn't go out anywhere without letting someone at your hotel know where you are going. I know, I've been there. It dirty and dangerous everywhere," said the woman who had just sat down.

Awwwwkkkkkwwwaaaarrrrrddddd.....

This comment stopped our conversation dead in its tracks, and the gentleman that I had been talking to happily, and furrowed his brow. "What a Debbie Downer thing to say," I thought.

"Well, anyhow, I hope you have an amazing trip," said the man, as he picked up the book he had been reading before the center row-mate's arrival. "Thank you. I am sure it is going to be an amazing trip," I responded, as I grabbed my book and continued to read.

End...PART 1