I am on my honeymoon. My wife and I are on our way home from Disneyworld having been there for a little over two weeks. Its Boxing Day and this morning we were at MGM studios and there was a little rain and now we are at the Airport and its all a little surreal.
Orlando airport is an extension of the theme parks and the normal airport shopping mall is a a bit more fun. I find a games store that has a Star Wars classic Trilogy Trivial Pursuit (This is pre-Episode 1 - a world with only 3 Star Wars films) that in subsequent years no one will ever play with me more than once.
Then we get the bad news.
As we check in we find the flight is delayed, and that we can have a $20 voucher for snacks. Each.
We go to Burger king for food, and use the first voucher and they don’t give change. We still have 6 hours to wait.
And a $20 voucher.
I have been trapped in airports on a number of occasions. Occasionally with work, but often with family too. You don’t waste your vouchers.
So we went book shopping.
I had not heard of the author or the book, but knew who John Travolta was, like everyone else. Steven Zaillian had made the movie, so I thought I’d five it a go.
I had finished it before we took off, sitting on a bench in a theme park airport terminal.
Its a harrowing story. A group of small towns decimated by cancer caused by pollutants from a number of local factories. The book explores many of the issues associated with the case, the families and their medical issues, the attitude of the defence team and the corporations involved.
The book is really about the lawyer who took on the case, pursuing it until bankruptcy and personal ruin, Jan Schlictmann, played by Travolta in the movie. The transformation from a man desperate for success to one who walks away from everything is a visceral journey that I have neverv forgotten.
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