ME: irked, make that
highly irritated and spoiling for a fight. At about 20 minutes till midnight, my
7:15
aero flight was well over 4 hours late. Airport was a quiet place, a seeming ode
to lost hope and perished dreams. Everything seemed to work together to get me
to tip over.
From network issues
which caused a 2-minute check in procedure stretch to over 10 even though there
was just us: two tired colleagues desperately hoping for a miracle at the check-in counter, to the
lavatory attendant who had to be harangued by her colleagues into divulging the
secret hiding place of the last half-roll of toilet paper, on to the security
clearance officers who seemed convinced that the best way to put late night
domestic flight suckers like myself at ease was through loud debates on the
chance of the flight making it at all tonight.
So it was a night
slowly teetering on the edge of a collapse into i-still-am-not-quite-sure-what.
Getting into the
plane with my fellow zombie-like travelers, I made a beeline for the lavatory
only to stop short when I saw the person exiting the only now available
bathroom. I knew it wasn't a good idea. You just know don't you, when someone
has left a four-letter word of a smell behind. I cringe at the memory but yeah
I still had to use it.
I counted the heads
of my fellow passengers. We were 17, or was it 18, I'm not quite sure now. Made
my way back to my seat and eagerly sank into 3A: thankfully whoever bought that
seat changed their mind and after over 3 hours spent lying in a
fetal position at the airport, the extra leg room was a blessing I couldn't
pass up.
"Yes my phone is
in flight mode", I repeated for the second time in less than 30 seconds to
the air-hostess showing her the game I was playing. Second time around I looked
up with all of the irritation I felt only to lock eyes with the most tired of
eyes I'd seen in a while. And my irritation vanished. She looked so dead-on-her-feet tired and I started to imagine what the schedule changes would have meant:
the longer hours on her feet than planned, the short words from passengers
whose schedules had been disrupted, the lack of rest, the hours spent serving refreshment
and collecting trash when passengers were done. It was a sad 'aha' moment for
me.
I've met the friendly
and the surly, the professional and the crass, the subtle and the loud. Until
tonight I'd never seen the quiet desperation and frustration. It's a
lesson I hope I recall the next time I fly. Everyone could do with a little
kindness.
