“When will I get home from this loud, overwhelming place?” Isaac murmured under his breath while thumping his foot repeatedly on the floor in frustration.
It was 1:00 am, the absolute dead of night, but the world around him was racing. He was stuck in the grand, bright, crowded, and noisy terminal at the Singapore Airport. He desperately wanted to get to his childhood home and to his parents, whom he hadn’t seen in over three years. But to get home, he had to endure the tiring, annoying, and terribly long eighteen-hour flight to New York City.
He was already tired of his trek across the world because everything bad had happened to him before he even got to his gate. His large bag broke, which wasn’t cheap by the way, he had to get a pat-down because he triggered the metal detector, and his plane had five gate changes, requiring him to run nonstop through three different terminals. But as things couldn’t get any worse, the gate agent belched out of the crackly loudspeaker, “I’m terribly sorry, folks, but our flight to New York will be experiencing a two-hour delay due to rough weather. If you want, we are offering cancellations with a reimbursement for your ticket. Thank you for your time, and I’m incredibly sorry about the inconvenience.”
With this, Isaac knew deep down in his soul that he was in for the worst, most aggravating, and endless day of his life. Similarly, he heard all of the other passengers grunt when the announcement was made. After the one hundred twenty-minute gruelling delay, he finally boarded the plane with a glimmer of hope that he would be able to return home for the holidays. He traversed the aircraft in the slow, painstaking line that absolutely annoys everyone. He finally reached his throne, seat 12H, with a leisurely, preferred Premium Economy ticket, which had a luxurious fifteen-inch TV, and with elegant, soft seat padding that he could only dream of. This is for kings, he thought, smiling giddily as he plopped into his chair. My, am I lucky to have this. I’m excited to take the best, longest nap in the world! Isaac wasn’t the richest, as he was an insurance agent, so this experience was one that he had been looking forward to for months. He had cut back on everything to pay this ticket, even on smoking, which was one of the few things that brought him joy in the world. And for that, he was even more ecstatic. As the other grumpy and emotionally drained passengers slowly filed past his seat, he was happy to be comfortable, but he was also eager to get in the air to see his family. He plugged his headphones into the screen, turned on a calming movie, and started to fall asleep.
After about half an hour on the tarmac, Isaac awoke with a frustrating realization that he hadn’t heard the engines even start.
“Why aren’t we moving? I thought we were going to leave earlier,” he whispered to himself. Just as he was about to hit the flight attendant button to ask what was going on, a lady with three stuffed, bright pink suitcases waddled through the aisles, attempting to scout her seat. She was wearing all pink clothing, with very long hair that got into everyone’s faces as she walked through the aircraft. Just about then, Isaac turned to his right and saw an empty seat, and at that exact moment, he knew where the frustrating lady would be sitting. Don’t judge her just by how she looks. She could be perfectly nice. Just BE nice if she sits next to you, he thought to himself. She wandered for a few more minutes, and when she finally spotted Isaac and her seat, she slowly shuffled over with all of her bags.
“EXCUSE ME!?!” she said in a high-pitched, nasally voice, “I KNOW, not think, you’re in my seat, mister, so move your booty out of here right now before I call the flight attendant!”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but I think you’re mistaken. I bought the ticket for 12H, not any other seat. Would you mind if I saw your ticket, so we could work things out?” Isaac said in a very calm and kind manner, actually hoping to sort this out instead of escalating the situation.
“EXCUSE ME? I’m NEVER wrong. Never! Move, NOW!” the pink lady screamed, which got everyone’s attention.
At this point, Isaac was fed up because he was trying to be calm, and it just wasn’t working. What should I do? I don’t want to anger her, but I’m in the right seat, he thought. Since he was fed up, he pulled out his ticket and showed it to the lady.
“Look, my ticket says 12H, so I can sit here. I’m sorry, but you have the wrong seat.”
“Eugh, fine. You can see my ticket. But I know I’m right,” she snorted, since she didn’t want to be wrong. She pulled out her ticket, and she read it word for word, “Sandra Lawrence, Seat 12G, Premium Economy ticket.” The second she realized her mistake, her face turned the brightest red Isaac had ever seen. “Fine, maybe I’m wrong, just this once. Now MOVE so I can sit in my seat!”
With that, she finally sat down, with the biggest look of hatred, and the flight got on its way. When the flight took off, Isaac could fall asleep again, but this time with fear of the lady next to him.
Later, Isaac awoke to the lady poking him as hard as she could on the shoulder.
“Sirrrrrrrrr. You need to let me go to the bathroom. I NEED to apply my makeup, I need to look beautiful. Oh yeah, you sleep with your disgusting mouth open, that must stop,” she said, wagging her fat finger in his face.
He reluctantly got up, but was happy she would be gone for at least thirty minutes. After she came back, it was time for breakfast. Isaac had a severe milk allergy since he was little, and he could die if he even drank a drop of milk. Due to this, he specifically asked for a dairy-free meal with a safe dessert he could enjoy. The lively flight attendant came by and gave him his avocado toast with eggs, with a piece of apple pie for his treat. On the contrary, Sandra received a bowl of oatmeal with ice cream, and she put up the biggest stink when she received her plate.
“No fair! I want your pie, I HATE ice cream! You can have it instead,” she said as she stole his pie. She ate it so fast that Isaac couldn’t even respond, and he looked at his screen, trying to sleep to drown out his terrible seatmate.
Only three hours left. I must have slept for a looong time. Get me away from her!
When Isaac woke up again, the flight was getting ready to land. He was ecstatic and could finally go home and leave this terrible experience. The flight landed and got to their gate quickly. The moment the seatbelt sign turned off and the door opened, Sandra jumped out of her seat, and she tried to climb over Isaac to leave the plane.
“Why are you so fat! Move yourself so I can go home! MOVE!” she shrieked, startling everyone else.
Isaac got up, said absolutely nothing, and let her go. He was mad, and he was going to explode! He tried to be kind, but she was vicious in her insults and actions. He sat there after she left, and he was the last person to leave the plane. As he left the gate, he travelled to the baggage claim to retrieve his luggage. While he was there, Isaac saw Sandra, grumpy as could be, and he said nothing as he left for home.
* * *
Christmas was refreshing for Isaac. He enjoyed spending time reconnecting with his parents. As he said goodbye and headed to the airport, he felt at peace. He had a seamless journey to his gate, and he was excited for his premium seat again. But when he got there, he saw Sandra, who was yelling at the frightened and drained gate agent. He approached her and said, “What’s the matter? If you don’t remember me, I sat next to you coming here.”
“They kicked me off the flight!” she wailed for the whole world to hear, not aware of how she treated him.
What should I do? She was mean to me, but should I treat her with kindness, or should she get what she deserves? Honestly, I should give her my ticket even though she insulted me. After thinking, he gave Sandra his ticket. Instead of saying thank you, she snatched it out of his hand with her grubby little fingers and said, “You don’t deserve this ticket anyway.” As she said this, an old man approached him and said he had an extra first-class ticket he could give to Isaac.
“Stop right there! No fair, I need…” Sandra whined
“Need what?” the old man said, “Earlier, this kind fellow gave you his ticket, even though you’ve been mean to him. He did the right thing, and he didn’t expect a reward, and you know, kindness never goes unnoticed. So, I think that he deserves a thank you.”
Isaac was astonished, since he had never had anyone do this for him. He thanked the man and looked at Sandra, boarded his flight, and as he got to his seat, 1C. As he sat down, he realized that even when it might not seem like acts of kindness are recognized, they will always eventually come back to you. With this calming realization, he drifted off to sleep, happy with his somewhat good trip and the fact that he would probably never see Sandra again.
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