Living on the Edge

Not many amongst my readers may recall a book by Arthur Hailey called Airport, which was made into a movie in the 1970s. At that time, it was a fascinating read, and to watch the movie sitting in Kolkata was a treat; to be able to imagine what the USA would be like, and not even fathoming what snow was or could do to a fictional airport in Chicago. Later in my life, I had the opportunity to experience weather like that in that city in its very non-fictional gigantic airport. There is a character in the narrative that appeared merely amusing when I had read the book and watched the movie in my youth. But today, this character becomes central in my thinking of what I experience. The person is the stowaway - a quaint near-70-year-old lady by the name of Ada Quonsett. She is a metaphor for those who live life on the edge. In the story she is a person who has mastered the art of deceit and can do things that allow her to utilize her apparent innocence to achieve what she wants - most of which is cheating people. It is through lies, deceits, and impersonation that she moves from city to city free of charge on planes across the country and then even outside the country. This is a person I see around me all the time. And the more I think of Ada, after watching the movie recently again, I start to see the Adas that surround us. They are all living life on the edge, pushing the envelope ever so much, and just hoping to not get discovered. Ada utilizes the strategies so well - keep the props of deceit, the narratives that sit so well with people, the lies that look so true, and a behavior so camouflaged in innocence that the cunning never gets exposed. Even when Ada gets "caught," and is reprimanded and punished, she is able to escape and repeat her actions just using her charm, and the gullibility of those who wish her well. The hapless man entrusted with the task of escorting her to an aircraft is entrapped into a false sense of trust as she gives him the slip and does exactly what she wants to do - get back on the edge. Even the experienced airport manager is taken in by her charm and he too offers the miscreant a sandwich at the chagrin of the only person who sees through her and knows her for what she is - ready to escape and get back on the plane without paying the dues expected of conventional systems. People like Ada are the ones who know what to say and how much to say and how to create a sense of trust when indeed it is a pretense because they cannot afford to trust anyone because the cost of discovery is too high. In some ways the World detests the Adas that surround us, but in the end, even as in the book, such a person, because of their ability of deceit, become of utility to those who want to use them for a purpose. One wonders if the Adas that choose to live life on the edge, taking advantage of every opportunity that surrounds them, eventually become the losers because there are always those who see through Ada and just eventually use them. The Adas become instruments for those who can use them to gain their own advantage knowing exactly how to use the Adas. In the book, Ada gets fortunate, and all ends well for her, but perhaps, in reality, the Adas are the ones who eventually suffer the most. Perhaps because the Adas get used until Fleetwood Mac said in their song, happens, "Oh no-no, you can't disguise," exactly as Tanya Livingston, the Trans Global Airlines passenger agent, tells Ada. Life on the edge is good, until pushed off the rim by the people who suck out everything and then discard.