It was going to be a full flight. Almost all the seats at the gate were taken. The West Jet representative made an announcement – we were going to be flying in one of their newer aircraft, one that hasn’t been retrofitted with tv screens yet. No worries though, West Jet had a limited number of tablets for rent, tablets loaded with the latest apps and games. Oh boy.

A second rep emerged from the ramp, and started signaling the first. The message was a big no about something. “Ladies and gentlemen, we actually don’t have any tablets for rent on this flight, but I can offer a limited number of you copies of the daily paper….and we still have a couple minutes if you’d like to go buy a magazine or something.” Right.

I missed the announcement about the free drinks…

The rep scanned my boarding pass and looked at my passport. I couldn’t resist a comment: “Excuse me, but between the bad news announcements, I missed the one about complimentary alcoholic beverages”. She handed me a copy of the Herald and said, “have a nice flight.” I deftly ducked the look that meant, “shut up and get on the plane, I’m having a bad day.”

So there I was sitting beside the cool guy on the plane. The flight attendant droned through the usual announcements, finishing off with the one that says turn off your devices. Now I know most people don’t buy the notion that having a smartphone on in a plane is any kind of safety issue (after all, everybody reads the internet), but still most people do what they’re asked to on a flight. Not cool guy.

Cool guy was messing with his i-phone. His thumbs were going a mile a minute, and when one of the flight attendants came by, he would discretely make his device disappear, then when the coast was clear, his thumbs were at it again. I don’t think he was doing anything important or even all that interesting. He was simply being the rebel, playing with his i-phone until the flight attendant gave the word that computers could be used. Then the phone disappeared to be replaced by an iPad for the rest of the flight.

The flight attendants come around offering free pretzels or cookies, or for several dineros, a sandwich. I’m thinking even an airplane sandwich sounds good at this point, when cool guy produces a toasted Tim Horton’s sandwich from the airport that is clearly still warm. Everybody can smell how wonderful it is. He chows down. “Sir, can I get you anything?” “A sandwich please.” “Turkey and brie, or perhaps spicy Italian?” I glace over as cool guy swallows the last bite of his dinner. “I’ll try the turkey and brie please.”

I wake up as the plane is about to land. Down safe. As we approach the gate, the attendant makes an announcement. We can turn our phones on now. I pull out my ancient BlackBerry and turn it on to the get the time. A message appears: “Simcard rejected.” I fumble to take the battery out for a few seconds to do a hard boot. I imagine cool guy is glancing over with disdain. The phone recognizes the simcard this time, but it would take a few hours before recognizing the time change.

We exit the plane. I’m dog tired and drag my butt toward the luggage area. Yes, the little case I thought was carry-on was just a tiny bit too big to fit into the handy measuring device. Cool guy is a man on a mission, walking top speed, weaving through the crowd, and out of sight.

I’m very happy to be back home.