Thursday, August 04, 2016

Thursday Thirteen: Thirteen People

Thirteen people I met on the cruise:

I met not one but two young men who were veterans who had come home and were on this cruise.  One with his young, lovely, crazy, running, hiking, skinny wife.  She was a psychotherapist and was counting the day until her retirement planned in less than 10 years and her goal to travel the U.S. in an RV (and I am sure hike every trail and climb every mountain!).  Her husband, in his late 20's or early 30's with a gentle and handsome face and a veteran, wore a hearing aid and we had to be careful that he was able to participate in our conversation.

The second young veteran was newly married but off on the cruise with his dad because his mother had a job crises and could not go!  I quite seriously suggested to the dad that he should have given his space to his son's wife...he ignored that.  The young son also wore a hearing device of some kind.  He had wanted to be involved in music in some way, but the damage he received fighting for his country meant he had to find something new to pursue.  (We ask these men to make such big sacrifices and we do not reward them as we should.)

I met two giggling sisters in their late forties and from the midwest who were thrilled to be able to take the cruise and shared that enthusiasm with everyone.  It was exhausting eating dinner with them even though I was happy for them.

I met a retired doctor on the cruise who was there with his young granddaughter and his wife.  They made a very handsome trio...postcard perfect and I was a little envious at their demeanor.

Off the boat, I met a young woman from Moravia.  She was eager to talk about her arrival in the U.S. where she had her passport stolen in New York within days and found that local police pretty much shrugged and said that kind of thing happened a lot.  She was surprised as she thought that most crime was in her area of the world and not America.

I met an author who was a contestant in the very first Iditarod dog sled race and seemed to be focused on talking about that. He was in his late 60's/early 70's and very handsome and healthy looking.  He was selling a book on that iditarod experience, so that was why he was so focused in sharing.

I met another older man at the same place who claimed he only shot film photos.  He said he would never change to digital, but he was quite old and that made sense to me.

I met a tanned blond with perfect breasts that were nestled in a tube top who recommended a high-end very modern Mexican restaurant in downtown Anchorage as a place for dinner.  She was correct except the contemporary metal chairs and tables were a little off-putting.


19 comments:

  1. Such an eclectic bunch! The veterans gave so much. I hope their lives back home are wonderful, but if our vets are any indication, it will be a tough road! Our country doesn't do enough for them, in my opinion.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Such interesting people. Will you be telling us more about them? I hope so. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Travel is a wonderful thing, you can meet people outside of the circle you usually run into on your own home turf. Our service men and women give so much, i wish i could send them all on cruises to get some R&R.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I envy your opportunity to get acquainted with fellow travelers. Since I was with my siblings we all ate together and went on tours together, etc. I did meet some folks when I went to the gym in the mornings. Be glad you were not seated with me and my giggling sister. We would have drive you crazy for sure. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  5. I really enjoyed the people I met on our Alaska cruise. People I never would have run into otherwise. Same goes for the townies you meet if you stay out of the tourist traps.

    ReplyDelete
  6. How fun! I cherish the memories of taking a cruise with my mom. You certainly do meet a lot of interesting people. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. So funny - I'm in the middle of a Jan Karon book and your wonderful summations of your fellow travelers are like a page from the Mitford series!

    ReplyDelete
  8. People can be very entertaining.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yes, each cruise we take, we meet some fascinating people. Alaska had the best people. Did you get pictures?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Always interesting to add personalities to one's character files for future writing.

    ReplyDelete
  11. These sound like great characters for an Agatha Christie type murder mystery.

    ReplyDelete
  12. The VA needs to be restructured, its a farce, at the expense of those who have served our country.
    I enjoy meeting people that I wouldn't normally get to, though I have to qualify that by designating the location. Walmart oh heck no, on a camping/fishing/riding trip Oh yes.
    Nearly all my friends have been on a cruise, and a couple own an island in the Caribbean, I have no desire to go to either.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'd love to read the resulting short story!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wow, this is great for a book of characters!

    ReplyDelete
  15. We met some fascinating people on our Alaska cruise, too. I'm thinking of the couple from Hong Kong, he a scientist, she a physician, who enthusiastically participated in the dancing with the stars contest. They were willing to do fun and silly things, which was endearing.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Too much "humanity" for yours truly.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Interesting how you can get the life story of people you just meet - kind of like we do on the blogs! :)
    You give me something to look forward to when I take my future cruise.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Here at this site really the fastidious material collection so that everybody can enjoy a lot. 12 week mastery review Brian Moran

    ReplyDelete

Take your time...take a deep breath...then hit me with your best shot.