From the very beginning of “Flight Patterns” by Sherman Alexie, there is an overwhelming sense of normality in the environment. When William–whose perspective the story is told in–wakes early in the morning to catch his flight for yet another business trip, he wakes up to the usual: fatigue–due to his ongoing insomnia–and his wife and daughter begging him not to leave them for the airport. William steps out the front door of his beautiful home and into a cab with a complete stranger whose life he assumes that he can categorize. While William is expecting a quiet, dull ride to the airport, he receives a transformative splash of reality as he comes to learn the truth about profiling: it is useless. Sherman Alexie makes it clear that racial profiling became prevalent in America after 9/11 took place, and now people like William are quick to judge others based only on their appearances.