As a child, what did you love to do? If you lived in the city, perhaps on car trips you liked to look out the window and fantasize about the wide open farmland, the rolling green hills, and the fresh cold streams through the mountains.
When people fly, they have preferences for the window or aisle seat. And face it, no one likes the middle. But some people make the best of it, no matter where they are. Last week, returning from a business meeting, three people were in the back of a plane that had no air conditioning (it was in the upper 80s in New Orleans, so yes we are still using the AC) and an older plane with very small seats/leg room - and I got the middle seat.
I was prepared to work on the laptop for the short final hop from Houston, but the young man to my right was so excited to come to Nola for the first time - from Canada. Way, way northern Canada. It was late at night, travelers were tired, but he had just finished college and saw a cheap flight, so he and a friend booked the trip.
He didn’t care about how he got there, he was just focused on the final destination. So, the plane was hot? It was 30 below when he left. Could he get food on Bourbon Street when we landed? When did the casino close? Will he really not get arrested for walking with my drink in my hand?
His enthusiasm was contagious. I began talking about where to eat because food seemed to be his number one priority. The guy across the aisle said walk down to Frenchmen for music while he carried his drink. The guy to my left leaned over and offered the phone number of two buddies that would take him deep sea fishing. The guy in front of the one on my left said to not believe us that nutria isn’t good eating (but when our young friend said “yeah dere, but does it look like a rat, eh?” and he admitted “it sure does”, he said he would stick to boudin balls and other less rat-like things).
Window or aisle or across the aisle, these two rows were nearly all involved in helping the guy spend his nine days the best way we could recommend. When we exited at Moisant Field, the window guy on my left said if it wasn’t for our lively conversation, the trip home would have been miserable.
Amazing things happen when you reach across the aisle or just to the person next to you - and you don’t even think about what seat you wish you had. Maybe some other folks need to remember to reach across the aisle.
