The Pocatello airport is very quiet this Saturday morning. My flight to Salt Lake City leaves in about an hour where I’ll connect with a flight to Portland, then to Narita, Japan followed by a flight to Manila. I’ll be there about 23 hours from now.

When I was checking in, the following conversation occurred:

A young lady came out of the back room and asked the lady checking me in, “Shall I take off my pants?”

“Please don’t, ” I said. “It’s too early to get my heart rate up that high!”

“Bet you don’t get that offer very often, at least from airline counter clerks,” the lady checking me in responded. I allowed as how this was a first for me. “Take them off,” said my check-in lady to the other girl, “and I’ll throw them up in a tree and pay you back!”

It turns out that these folks are having a weightloss contest and at 10 a.m. they will weigh in. The winner takes home the cash prize.

“So, you must know each other from the past. Are you related?” I asked.

“We’re cousins,” the checkin lady said. “Many years ago we were jumping on a trampoline and she talked me into taking off my pants so I could jump higher. Then she threw them into a tree and I had to get one of the boys to climb up and get them.”

The pants looked to be pretty bulky, I conceeded. They were airline-issued pants for working out on the flightline. “You should take every advantage. Go ahead and take them off!” She just laughed and went back into the back room. Dang!