Soldier.

I met such an interesting man on the plane from Singapore to Johannesburg. He joined the British Army at 18 (after trying to join the Rhodesian army at 17) and has been stationed all over the world. We talked about the Falklands, Iran, Iraq and other places and jobs he’d undertaken (like being a personal bodyguard for the Sultan). He talked about his mission to find those notorious weapons of mass destruction and how, as we all know, none were found. He did say that they’d found 2 million gas masks…clearly an indication that they thought weapons of mass destruction would be deployed against them. He is working in Singapore now (police) after leaving the army once he realized the ‘war against terrorism’ and the search for weapons of mass destruction were all a lie.

I asked him if he’d ever written a book, but alas, he hasn’t. He did recommend “Don’t cry for me Sergeant Major” by Jeremy Hands and Robert McGowan which I’m going to keep an eye out for, citing it as a pretty fair and accurate account of what transpired (in the Falklands).

It was lovely to talk to him and to listen to him despite the fact that I was so extremely, extremely tired. Actually it was better than watching another movie! James Bond kind of paled in comparison…

We discussed how if he won the lottery he’d have four properties around the world: somewhere in central Otago (NZ), a farm in SA (already aquired, and where he and his wife will retire to shortly), a house in the south of France and a house in Penang (Malaysia). Penang was an interesting choice, I offered (delighted by the fact that I know where it is and that I’ve actually BEEN there!). I closed my eyes and listened and was really annoyed that I was so damn tired. I wanted to listen and talk for the entire journey. This, in all my 30 years of airplane travel, has never happened before. I’ve never wanted to talk and talk and listen and talk like that, but in the end I had to excuse myself and try to get some rest.

I really enjoyed his company, but I chickened out of giving him my card so we could keep in touch. Damn. He’s so interesting. I’m going to find that book and educate myself further.