I have returned to Le Mars, Iowa and have smelled its summer air. It is sweeter than anything you will ever know. This is not ha-ha mid-90's sarcasm either. This is truth. I smelled it tonight and realized how much I missed it.

Today, I took a flight from Oakland to Phoenix, then Phoenix to Omaha. The flight to Phoenix was amazing. I sat by five kids - two girls and three boys (ranging from the ages of 6-11) who were flying by themselves. And they were the snottiest, most awful kids. Mainly because they didn't have that innocent charm of most kids. They could have been totally rambunctious (sp?) and wild and loud and that would have been fine. I mean, it's fun to watch kids have fun, right? But these kids were just so jaded and vile. They were at that horrible age where kids start getting influenced by the adult world's "cool" attitude and "hot shit" behavior. And futhermore, they were riding on this airplane alone, which only increased their "I'm hot shit" attitude.

Example: this 11 year-old girl sat beside me and proclaimed to those around her, "I've ridden on soooo many airplanes in my life." Another example: she handed her friend some Kettle Korn and informed him that "This is the best Kettle Korn in the world." So, in her 11 years, this girl is already the authority on plane travel and kettle korn.

And the worst part was that these kids still tried to be "kids." They were loud and played with Beanie Babies, but it was this fake childhood behavior. Like they didn't really believe in it. They were just going through the motions. And it was all mixed up with an adult mindset. They'd start fighting violently with the Beanie Babies and I think one girl had the Beanie Babies perform oral sex on one another.

It was depressing.

Before, I referred to it as amazing. Now it is depressing.

On a sidenote: I came home, unpacked my bags, and realized I forgot to bring something back.

Apparently, I left my heart in San Francisco.



This is truth.