A Strange and Unlikely Encounter
By Jerome Pearson
April 2016
On Monday 18 April 2016, I flew from Newark, New Jersey to Akron, Ohio for a business trip. The flight option I selected required that I travel from Newark, New Jersey to Detroit, Michigan, and then a brief flight from Detroit to Akron. After arriving in Akron, I rented a car and drove to the Cambria Suites Hotel located near the airport.
Later that day I dined at a local restaurant that was recommended by the hotel. After dinner I decided to use my smart phone to find the nearest Barnes & Nobel Bookstore. My search showed that the nearest Barnes & Nobel was approximately 20 miles away in another part of Akron. I am a lover of books and would, naturally, be a lover of Bookstores; one of my most frequent pastimes is finding a book store, selecting a few books to skim, and sitting in the café with a cup coffee as I skim the books I have selected. If there is a book that I want to follow-up on, I would record the details in my phone.
I arrived at the Barnes & Nobel and could immediately tell that it was larger than most. This was great to know me because it could possibly mean that it would have a greater selection. I always peruse the “New Fiction Book” section to see if there is something new that sparks my interest. These books are located at the beginning of the fiction section and are in alphabetical order by author. Obviously, if I see a book by an author I recognize and like, I may select that particular book. Other books are selected if the title or its appearance intrigues me. Before I take a book back to the café, I will try to ascertain what it is about by reading information on the Jacket. I also take a look at the first page and read a few sentences.
I usually take several books with me to the Café. I do this because I am usually interested in more than one, and if for some reason I am disappointed with one, I have others to review without having to return to the “New Fiction Books” section.
On this particular day, I started my perusal of new books as they were stored alphabetically. When I got to the letter “O”, I saw the name “Helen Oyeyemi”. Another thing that causes me to take a closer look is the writer’s name. Her last name appeared “African” to me, so I pulled the book out its slot which was titled “What is not yours, is not yours!” In this case both the author’s name and the book’s title intrigued me. As I read the Jacket I was able to learn that she was actually British. Being a Black Briton would mean that her family likely came from Africa to England at some point over the last 50 years. She is brown complexion, has friendly smile, with long braids or perhaps braided extensions.
I sat in the Café and skimmed Helen Oyeyemi’s book as well as several others. However, I was more interested Helen’s book and before leaving I made sure to record her name and the title of her book in my phone for follow-up. When I returned to the hotel I was be able to read about her book on Amazon; I learned that she has written several books, with her first at the age of 18. She was being compared to Edgar Allan Poe as well as to my current favorite Japanese writer, Haruki Murakami.
I spent the next day with the supplier, which was the primary reason for my visit to Ohio. At several points during that day I would think about Helen’s book and decided that I would return to that same bookstore later that day to read some more.
I returned to Barnes & Nobel on that Tuesday evening, and went back to the “New Fiction Books” section to retrieve Helen’s book. I was able to find two other books by her. I took all 3 with me to the café downstairs. All of her books appeared interesting to me and I decided I would start with a book she published in 2012 titled “Boy, Snow, Bird.” When I returned to my hotel room on that Tuesday evening, I decided to purchase “Boy, Snow, Bird” and had it downloaded on my Kindle.
The next day, Wednesday, I reversed my trip, traveling from Akron, Ohio to Detroit, Michigan, and from Detroit back to New Jersey. The trip from Akron to Detroit would be short; therefore, I chose not to take my Kindle out of my brief case. I knew I would be reading during the trip from Detroit to Newark since that was a longer flight.
There was a short turn around in Detroit so I had to get to my gate pretty quickly after arriving in Detroit. My flight would arrive in Detroit at approximately 1110 and the next flight was departing at 1210. However, because I knew that I would not be arriving in Newark until nearly 2pm; I need to either eat lunch before getting on the plane, or buy lunch to later eat during the flight. I saw a MacDonald’s Restaurant which would allow me to order something quickly and take it with me on the flight or eat at the gate immediately before the flight. I arrived at the gate nearly 10 minutes before boarding. The burger was nasty and contained onions which I specifically asked them not to include. I removed the onions and nearly choked wolfing the burger down in a few bites!
I boarded the plane and took my selected seat: 13C. 13 C is an aisle seat which is what I prefer. This was a smaller plane so I was hoping that no one would be sitting next to me in seat 13D. I started reading “Boy, Snow, Bird” as other passengers were boarding. I kept looking at the other passengers boarding, hoping that no one would take the seat next to me. I wanted to be comfortable as I was reading. As the plane was filling up I was beginning to feel lucky because so far no one had taken the seat next to me.
All of sudden more passengers started arriving. I kept looking at the various passengers now boarding, still hoping that no one would take the seat next to me since the seats were so small! However, I kept my eyes down reading the book on my Kindle.
Finally there was a passenger standing next to me indicating that she has the window seat. I looked up! Suddenly, I was beginning to feel as if I had just been dreaming! I looked at the young lady, almost in a state of shock! I said, “You look so familiar!”
Before she could take her seat next to me, I said: “Are you a writer?” With her British accent, she said “Yes!” I said this is truly unreal! Here I am about to read your book and here you are about to sit right next to me!” The strange thing is that I only learned of you just a couple of days ago!”
Yes, reader, you may have guessed it! The person sitting next to me on the plane was Helen Oyeyemi, the British writer who I had only discovered in the Barnes & Nobel bookstore just a few days ago. Although I had only seen her face on the cover of the books I skimmed in the CAFÉ the evening before, I recognized her immediately!
This was a business trip for me! When we plan our domestic flights, we actually go onto our company’s travel site to plan our trips by selecting everything from the flight we will be taking, the rental car, hotel, etc. I had only planned this particular trip the previous week. During my selection process, I was given the option of selecting a seat from those that were available. For my trip from Detroit back to Newark, I selected 13C! A few days later, I would go to a Bookstore in a town I had never visited. I would select a book to read by a writer I had never heard of; this writer is actually from England and of African Descent. The seat I selected for the last leg of my trip, would be right next to that author whose book I was about to read. I showed her the page I was reading which confirmed that I was actually reading her book! She said, “Well, I have a more recent one, which is better!” I said this is truly amazing that only the night before, “I am sitting in a bookstore café with 3 books, all of which were yours!”
Helen Oyeyemi told me that she was on her way to New York for a reading. She is now a writer in Residence at the University of Kentucky, and was doing a book tour. After New York she was on her way to Washington, DC for another reading at a bookstore called “Politics and Prose”, a bookstore that I have visited several times at the courtesy of my wife who is also from DC.
I told her about my job and how much traveling I do. I showed her a list of books I have on my kindle and how important books are to me. She asked if had always liked reading, and I told her I did, and that I even try to write a bit. She told me that after completing her residency at the University of Kentucky, she will spend several months in Seoul, South Korea, which is one of her favorite cities. I told her that I had been to Seoul once and liked it. I would later learn that she was actually born in Nigeria and moved to England at a very young age with her parents.
But even today I am still in a state of wonder! What is the likely hood of discovering a new foreign writer, and within two days having that person sit next to you on such a small flight?
As we were getting off the plane, I said “it was certainly nice meeting you”, and she said “likewise!”
I then said we should both write a short story about this rather strange coincidence! She smiled and said, “Perhaps we should!”
You have just read mine!
Jerome Pearson