Ways to Spot a Preppy at an Airport...

Preppies on Board... How to tell you're traveling with a fellow-traveller

These days every one's flying all around...the time when people dressed up to travel on airplanes is long past however, there always seems to be some Preppy-spotting amid the business travelers in their suits and the rest of the travelers in what seems to be a combination of sweat suits n' pajamas.

Thank goodness for the few passengers out there who still strive to look neatly presentable!

Thank goodness for the few passengers out there who still have manners!

Thank goodness yes, indeed....

Here's a brief listing on how to tell a fellow-Preppy's also going to board your flight:

• Just like you... your fellow Preppy passenger's layered in well-tailored separates. They either have a blazer on, a cardigan sweater set and/or sweater tied around their shoulders or an elegant scarf or shawl draped across the shoulders. In cooler months or climes, there's also the tell-tale khaki trench coat draped over their arm.

• Just like you... if you look closer, the gentleman Preppy's tweed blazer is a little frayed in spots and the lady Preppy's silk scarf is of a vintage design: if older people, then they've worn these literally forever and if younger, these are cherished passed-down Preppy Style inheritances. Most likely the tweed is Harris and the scarf is Hermes' but of course.

• Just like you... their ID is a well-worn and many stamped/security-stickered passport.

• Just like you... whether they're in first class, business or back in coach, they are acting with decorum and are always pleasantly nice to whoever is airline staff or is sitting beside them.

• Just like you... instead of being wired-up to every techie gadget in sight, they are reading either a book, The Wall Street Journal or magazine publications like Forbes, Town and Country, Garden and Gun and any of the latest English home decor' or gardening issues.

• Just like you... if they pull out their laptop computer, they're checking in with their broker or checking out the weather in places they're heading to like Paris, St. Barth's and so on...

• Just like you... their carry-ons are not overstuffed and tend to be classic Hartmann pieces.

• Just like you... they prefer buying bottled water and coffees plus granola bars, trail mix etc. at the airport terminal's kiosks instead of chancing it with whatever offering's on board: on board in coach that is which is doled out in small plastic cups.

• Just like you... they don't mind a mixed drink or fairly decent glass of wine if that's available.

• Just like you... they don't run the flight attendants ragged in business or first class with requests because they've flown this way before, several times before, and are used to it.

• Just like you... they can converse on any topic, latest business trend or controversial political headline but prefer to quietly enjoy their time on the flight by being mostly to themselves.

• Just like you...they don't rush to stand up in the middle of the aisle as soon as the plane pulls up to the airport gate.

• Just like you... they are the most pleasant people to travel with and perhaps right next to...

And so it's always nice to espy a fellow Preppy when out and about traveling but especially so whenever you find yourself sitting next to one within the smaller confines of a passenger jet.