i had hoped very hard that i would have two excruciatingly handsome dutchmen as seatmates on the plane, but what i got was an 8 year old vietnamese boy and his grandmother. the boy was in my seat when i arrived, and i offered to trade with him, if he would prefer to stay where he was (by the window, which i like, but i yield to younger people on such occasions) but his grandmother made him give it back to me. his name is tony, and he had a bright, sweet face, so the journey was very annoying with moments of charm, such as when he asks: "what are you reading? can i read it?" i gave him my book (it was anatomy of criticism) and helped him read it aloud. (we stalled on "polemical" right away) and when he wanted to know whether anyone is "bringing" me to singapore. no, i said, my family lives in singapore, i lived (lived! oh oh oh.) in virginia and now i'm going to live in singapore. "what? you got on the plane by yourself? how old are you?" i told him, and he was appalled at my antiquity. "then do you have a wife?" he wanted to know. "or a husband?" i solemnly told him that i am a little young to think about having a wife or a husband just now. the non-charming times (which is almost all the time when you're next to an 8 year old on a plane. why can't they all be like me when i was that age?) include how, when the rest of the cabin is darkened for rest, he turns his light on, and off, and on, and off... for ten whole minutes, obviously having the time of his life, during which i wanted to turn around and grab his hands and say STOP IT except that i didn't quite know what the grandmother would think or do if i yelled at the kid. if you're trying to watch your movie he would a) hit your arm persistently and say, hey! excuse me! excuse me! hey! b) lean over and cover your screen with his hands c) call out triumphantly: "you're watching nothing!" i was watching, in fact, a lot of somethings, including five movies (the hours, phone booth, the recruit, pipe dream, and this guy pearce and helena bonham carter movie "till human voices wake us" (which i thought was sweet (the children were) if confusing and rather pretentious and silly as the end approached. guy pearce with a beard looks like dan kinney, somehow.) and a number of sitcoms. (not having flown sia for a while, i hadn't realised that they now have both video and audio on demand. it gets better and better everytime!) also, when he went to sleep, his feet were kicking my arm and thigh constantly. you'll need more than occasional charm for me to be happy about that. remind me not to have children.