17 :: a million-dollar idea ::
[posted 1/12/01]
Fletcher: So I've got a million-dollar idea.
Freya: Another?
Fletcher: I'm telling you, I'm unstoppable.
Freya: Uh-huh.
Fletcher: Now listen. Here's the idea: a personals service for airline travelers.
[Jakob and Freya look at him.]
Fletcher: Think about it. You're, say, a college student in Chicago. It's spring break; you're going down to, let's say Austin. For South by Southwest. You're young, you're single, you're headed for a hip destination: you don't want to be stuck next to some Joe Briefcase corporate executive. You want to be sitting next to some cutie who's going out to South by Southwest. You want to be able to talk about what you're going to see while you're there; maybe tell her where you're staying; make plans to get together for drinks one night— and, hell, if she's from Chicago, and if everything goes well, you could make plans to see her when you get back. So, anyway, before you get your ticket, you go onto my website, enter in what day you'd like to travel, what airline you prefer, where you're going and then your preferences for companion — who you'd like to sit next to. The system matches you up with anybody traveling the same route as you who meets your criteria. Hell, it doesn't even need to be for dating — you could do it by occupation, or whatever. The exec can find another exec to sit next to so they can talk about golf or whatever the fuck. If you're a dentist going to some dentist's convention you can sit next to another dentist. Air travel's pretty boring — if you could turn it into a social thing, an extention of your conference or whatever, wouldn't you? Hell, you can make plans to meet the person at the gate — that way if your flight gets delayed, you can flirt or talk shop instead of leafing through the goddamn USA Today. I'm telling you: a flight is the perfect place for a first date. It's a few hours long, there's other people around so nothing's going to get too weird, it has a pre-determined ending time so there's an easy out.
Freya: Easy out? What if the date starts going wrong in the first five minutes? There's no escape during the flight itself. It's not like you can just leave. I've ended a date after fifteen minutes.
Fletcher: Eh. I haven't worked out all the kinks yet.
Jakob: I've got to admit; I think you might have something.
Fletcher: A million-dollar idea. I've got a million of them. I should be getting an MBA instead of a goddamn poetry Ph.D.
Freya: It's the world's loss.
::
