Friday, August 18, 2006
Page 15
AT THE SIDEBAR (Column)
Reality Intrudes on Vacation Oblivion
By J’AMY PACHECO
There’s nothing like vacation-fueled oblivion to set the mind at ease. And there’s nothing like the intrusion of reality to set the nerves on edge.
Last week, I took a vacation with my family to Las Vegas. With my mother and my daughter, I participated in an international fashion doll convention where I taught a class, and we attended several more.
It was delightful getting to see some old friends from far-away places, and to make many new friends. We stayed up late, slept too little, ate things that weren’t good for us, wore things that made us look silly (one night, I was a pirate!) and laughed a great deal.
With classes, salesrooms, contests, raffles, parties and other events, our convention activity seemed non-stop. Thursday, we stopped in our room just long enough to change clothes and say “Hello” to my husband, who had driven us to the distant desert city. Entering the room, I noticed a single typed sheet had been slipped under our door.
It was a notice addressing changes — effective immediately — to airline regulations. It advised travelers to avoid carrying liquid or gel products in their carry-on luggage, and suggested they arrive at the airport at least four hours before their scheduled flights.
Having traveled by car to Las Vegas, I was baffled by the unexpected note, and questioned aloud its purpose.
“Haven’t you been watching the news?” my husband asked. I reminded him that he had been alone in the room most of the time, and that I hadn’t turned on a television or computer since Tuesday night. I had no idea what was going on beyond the driveway to our resort hotel. I didn’t even know who’d been “auf’d” on that week’s episode of “Project Runway.”
With a cautionary glance at our 10-year-old, my husband mentioned that some kind of terrorist plot involving airplanes had been thwarted.
That was enough to convince me that I didn’t need to hear more. Nor did I want our daughter to hear more, in light of the fact that two of her beloved grandparents were — and are — on a multi-stop vacation out of the country.
Despite my intention to shelter her from the news, the next morning, the subject came up in a class we attended. Since the majority of the convention-goers had traveled to Las Vegas by airplane, I realized it was inevitable there would be some discussion.
Because we were in the uninformed convention environment, however, rumors flew, and one student advised she’d heard that the terrorists had planned to use dolls. Naturally, this was big news at a doll convention.
It felt somewhat surreal to be sitting in a classroom filled with adult women, learning to razor-cut Barbie’s hair alongside my little girl, while people discussed explosives inside doll bodies. One of my dinner tablemates indicated she’d have to leave immediately following the final night’s banquet to comply with the earlier check-in requirement, and another said she’d have to miss the event altogether to make her flight.
This wasn’t the first time something startling had occurred while I was on vacation. In 1987, my husband and I were vacationing in Hawaii when the stock market crashed.
We were blissfully unaware of the crash until we returned home and heard about it. Our friends and family were incredulous that we had been so out-of-touch.
But that’s what vacations are for.
Hoping to get the most out of our most recent vacation time, I tried all weekend to keep thoughts of the outside world at bay. But when the hotel experienced a blackout shortly after we stepped into an enormous ballroom to examine the sales tables, I couldn’t help thinking the worst.
Fortunately, ours was a calm and friendly crowd. Also fortunately, my daughter had been holding my hand, so I was able to immediately grab her in the pitch-black room.
From somewhere in the darkness, a man’s calm voice reminded us to stay put. A moment later, the lights came back on. It took a lot longer for my little one to stop shaking from fear.
We had a wonderful vacation, even though it did include only a couple days of oblivion. I suppose in this day and age, it’s just not possible —or smart —to be completely oblivious to what’s going on in the world.
But it sure was fun to try.
Copyright 2006, Metropolitan News Company