Among all of this life and stress that has
been happening my dear sweet wonderful Grandfather died. So this past weekend I
traveled home to attend his funeral. During my travels I encountered many
people from many walks of life. Some nice, some...not so much. I would now like
to give a shout out to one of the latter.
So, the following is a letter to the
dude that sat next to me on the plane on the way home from my grandfather's
funeral. The dude in the airline uniform (I'm guessing pilot?) that was already
comfortably seated before they started to heard the rest of the passengers on
the plane. The guy who took one look at me, made a noise of disgust under his
breath, stood and turned to look at his buddy seated behind him and then
proceeded to gesture towards me and make faces as though I could not see him,
or as though he did not care that I could see him.
Dear Dude,
I'm sure that you were hoping for some
young hot person to chat up while flying the friendly skies. It must be a huge
disappointment to be seated next to a fat aging housewife that has been up
since 2 am and looks like death. How frustrating it must be to endure 2 hours
next to this pitiful human being.
You really are quite handsome, and what
nice hair you have. Your outfit is pressed and fits you very well. I can see
that you take pride in your appearance and I am sure that your employers
appreciate that given that when you wear their uniform you are representing their
company.
I do not know you or why you are flying
today. Perhaps you have had a long day or perhaps your day has been great up
until now. I know that it is not going well now because I saw your reaction
when I sat down next to you in the seat that I paid for. I heard your sighs of
disgust and I saw you stand and turn to find your buddy's gaze so that you
could share a laugh at my expense. I was painfully aware of all of this
happening. I am not invisible and I am a hearing and seeing person so none of
this escaped me. To top it off I am a mom of three young boys so I have kind of
a "radar" for such behavior (you might say I have eyes in the back of
my head). I know what I would say to my boys if they made a person feel the way
you made me feel. What would your mom say to you?
Are you at all interested in my day? Do
you care that I am crazy tired due to layovers and cancelled flights? Would it interest you to know that I am
in a state of longing for my children and husband and grieving for my
grandfather who I loved very much?
You know what? I will not bother you with
these trivial matters. Because you have been put upon enough today. So do not
trouble yourself with the traveler to your left (or right for that matter, I
can see he that annoys you as well) I will sit and read and keep to myself that
was after all my intention anyway. You should really have a talk with your
employers about setting up a standard for the people whose money they will
accept.
I do hope your day gets better,
Sincerely,
The insignificant blob sitting next to
you.
P.S. For what it's worth... I was a little
disappointed in my fellow passengers today too. You see, I was hoping to sit
next to someone with just a shred of decency and perhaps a little touch of
kindness.
So there you have it. A little outpouring of frustration. Kind of
a “release valve” for some of the stress. I’m sure the minions will do
something terribly funny or embarrassing soon and I will have a light hearted
post coming your way in the very near future. Until then good people...
Smile at everyone you
meet, you never know who it will piss off J !
