Me and Lawrence of Arabia

So, when I watch movies, sometimes I get a little carried away by it all. In other words, if I find any of the characters admirable, I might start to assume some of their characteristics, like their accent or something like that. A few years ago, Dan and I watched Lawrence of Arabia. When Lawrence first travels across the desert, his guide stops and says something like, "Now you can take a drink." When Lawrence learns that his guide is going to wait a few more hours before taking a drink himself, he says something like "I'll drink when you drink," and puts his canteen away. Perhaps because Dan saw a glint of admiration in my eyes, he decided to point out at that very moment, "You could never do that, with all your lotions and cough drops and water bottles. You would die in the desert without your moisturizers."

And I have to admit, it is true. One of my biggest fears in life is that of becoming parched. I can't stand the feeling of dryness on my hands. When I was a kid, I once licked my palms in an effort to moisturize them. If you've never tried it, it doesn't work and generally results in an increased level of dryness. Now, I constantly carry hand lotion with me so that whenever I wash my hands, I can immediately moisturize. Plus, I have this weird tick in which I get a little tickle in my throat that results in a crazy coughing spell. My throat starts to feel like it's closing off, my eyes water, my nose runs, and I cough uncontrollably until a sip of water or a cough drop soothes my throat. With my most recent cold, I've been carrying around a water bottle and cough drops every where I go.

In a couple hours, I get to take my first flight since the new non-liquids regulations were put into place. I know that a major terrorist plot was foiled, but I just want all of you to know how serious this is for me. From the time I drop off my bags and walk through security until I pick up my bags, I will be without lotion or a water bottle. There is some small consolation in the fact that I can take cough drops with me and I know that the flight attendants will probably serve bottled water on the flight, but I'm going to be dealing with some serious dryness in the mean time. But, hey, if Lawrence of Arabia could ride into the Anvil (the hottest part of the desert) to save a man's life, maybe I can undergo a small amount of personal discomfort for a few hours myself. I'll let you know how it goes.