Skulls and Airports

Did you ever see the movie Starchamber?

I think it came out in the 80's.

This was the film where Michael Douglas plays an up and coming member of the legal system.

The ole Salt Dog judges recruit him to come to a secret meeting, and they basically talk about the dirtball criminals that slipped through the cracks of justice.

Then they take a vote and whack these dead beats.

I won't tell you the ending, but I'm guessing you can guess.

I like that whole "Princeton - Skull" meeting of secrecy stuff, don't you?

What you may not know is every industry, in every major city has their own version of skull meetings.

In the hospitality industry, it wouldn't be uncommon to get a "whisper invite" and then you'd show up to some secret location and exchange notes with other like minded people.

Some like to know about a client thats not paying, while others are looking for new projects, and then theres always a few peeps that show up to pimp "special services" to the people in the Skulls.

More often than not, such an event will happen in the wee hours of the morning in a board room that comes equipped with cheap coffee and stale Danish.

Awhile back, I went to one of these dealios, and it was actually kinda cool. Like most sit downs. Half the people were interesting, and valuble allies, while the other half were kinda Lame-O's.

So anyways, when I was coming back from that event, I must of been day dreaming, because I missed my turn off.

I ended up having to cut through the Airport terminal to get turned back around.

While I was doing this, I smiled while remembering the time I drove Mosha the Siberian through this mini airport city. I took a short cut that was against the rules, and within seconds.....

Wooooo Wooooo and cherries were flashing. A chick cop pulled me over and I looked at Mosha and chuckled....

"KGB, I'll be right back."

Then I felt bad because Mosha got all scared.

Russians don't like cops.

In Moscow, the cops just rip people off and punch them. It's the mafia that actually polices things.

Anyways, I digress.

I'm coming back from the Skulls, I take the wrong turn off.

I cut through the airport...........

But while I'm doing this, I get to the place where you pull over to drop travelers off.

I almost cruised by, but then I saw an old-old man embracing a woman that might have been his wife.

Their moment of seperation was touching.

So then I turned off my ignition, and then I just sat there and watched people seperate from one another.

The sidewalk where this takes place is like 100 yards long, and offers entrance to many different airlines.

So if you just stand in one place, you become engulfed in a crowd of people going through emotions that range from despair to elation.

I only stayed for 7 or 8 minutes, but it was enough to recharge me for a month.

People are flawed.

People are corrupt.

People are stupid.

People will disappoint.

People are just a bad thing to invest emotion and trust into, but yet....if you stand on that strip at the airport where people send those that they love away.......

It might be just enough to give you hope.

It did for me.