The chapter opens with a Delta flight still at the gate in Tampa, half an hour after its scheduled departure to New York. A Delta agent enters the crowded economy cabin with a security-blond woman wearing a badge, and announces that a federal officer must board, requiring one passenger to surrender a seat. The agent promises the flight will still arrive approximately on time.

The agent offers compensation for a volunteer: first a next-day ticket, hotel voucher, and four hundred dollars. The passengers groan at the early 6:45 AM rebooking and no one volunteers. The offer climbs to eight hundred dollars, then fourteen hundred, and tension builds as the cabin remains resistant. The blond officer surveys the cabin silently, offering no help.

Despite a joking shout from the back demanding extravagant perks, the lack of volunteers continues. The Delta agent raises the offer to sixteen hundred dollars. The environment is described as cramped and unpleasant, with passengers ranging from families and sunburned couples to impatient businessmen, many apparently unwilling to give up their travel plans.

At that moment, Tim Jamieson experiences a vivid, impulsive vision of leaving the plane altogether and hitchhiking north along Highway 301. He imagines the heat, lovebugs, roadside scenes, and being picked up by a farmer in a pickup with melons and a dashboard Jesus. The imagined freedom and solitude contrast sharply with the claustrophobic cabin.

Motivated both by the desire to get off the plane and the chance to secure more compensation, Tim stands, adjusts his glasses, and volunteers on his own terms. He offers his seat in exchange for two thousand dollars plus a cash refund of his ticket, openly attempting to negotiate a better deal and signaling a decisive break from continuing on the flight.