I'm in Alaska!

I moved into a new house upon my arrival back in B-Town. My roommate's name is Mandy. She's a middle school special-education teacher. We met in the Anchorage Airport six months ago when she was in need of intervention. She was being hit on by a guy who was completely inebriated, and I don't think she really understood that this guy was hitting on her. Mandy is very bright-eyed, very sweet, and very naive. I was sitting on the same row of seats as her, and could overhear her conversations on her cell phone. "I'm in Alaska!" she shouted, several times. She was talking to her friends and family back home in Michigan, whom she left behind in hopes of gaining independence as well as first year teaching experience.

We talked a little bit about Bethel. She was very excited about moving there. And that made me nervous for her. Bethel is NOT what you see when you look out the window at the Anchorage Airport. There are no mountains nearby, and no tall trees. And not many moose ever wander around in Bethel. Now, as a tourism promoter, I make sure I make an effort to focus on the positive aspects of Bethel, but never do I build Bethel up to be something it's not. So I made sure she knew what she was getting herself into. She kept calling everyone she knew and shouting in the phone "I see mountains! Alaskan mountains!" So something told me she might need some looking after. She is very petite, and has a disability that doesn't allow her to be as mobile as others. And Bethel can be a hard town to live in if you're not prepared. But I could see a spark in her eyes that let me know she could be ready for Bethel.

We were sitting there chatting, and before I knew it this middle-aged man slid his way down to our end of the row. He started talking to both of us, but was definitely focused on Mandy. At this time, Mandy was so excited to be talking to a "real Eskimo!" Her first one! I could hear the excitement in her voice, and the guy kept asking her all kinds of questions. I could tell the guy was completely inebriated by his body language, but I could also smell the liquor on his breath. And the next thing I hear from Mandy is "Oh, well I don't have a phone yet, but let me show you where I'm going to be living. Here! It's right here on the map!" she so gladly explained. I think I just nodded my head and thought "Oh lord." I figured that Mandy wasn't an expert on getting rid of unwanted attention from men. And I don't think she had any idea that this guy was drunk and was clearly hitting on her. So I made sure I listened closely to every sentence that was exchanged, so I could intervene when needed.

The man kept getting closer to her face. He kept leaning in. And the more he leaned, the stronger the stale liquor smell got. And I was sitting on the other side of Mandy, so I knew she had to be starting to catch on. And the second I could tell she was uncomfortable, I snapped into mean-big-sister mode. I got up and sat in between her and the drunk man. He kept trying to ask her questions, but I would just drown out his voice with general statements, like "Boy I hope the plane hurries up and gets here." He eventually got really annoyed with me and shut up. But I never took my eyes far away from him, just incase. He was on the same flight as us, but sat no where near either one of us. So that was that. We kept in touch, and I helped her get settled into Bethel. And right before both of us left for Christmas vacation we found a 2 bedroom house that we could move into and be roommates. Mandy loves telling people how we met. She always says that I saved her from the creepy, drunk guy, and that's how she knew we would be friends.