Rhea felt self-conscious. The elderly woman had boarded the first plane to leave the airport that morning, and she sat in business class, where the wealthy people stayed. Nobody looked at her as she entered the cabin, but as she found her seat and sat down, everyone’s attention was drawn to her. The reason was simple: she stuck out like a sore thumb.
Whereas the other men and ladies wore sophisticated and expensive-looking attire, Rhea wore her old, broken-in clothes, which were her best but appeared dull in comparison to what the others were wearing. When she sat down, the man next to her had his face buried in a newspaper, so he didn’t notice her right away. When he put down the magazine, he looked to his side and cringed at her appearance before signaling a flight attendant.”What’s this?” he questioned, pointing to Rhea.
The flight attendant appeared horrified by the man’s tone, but after verifying the woman’s seat number, she confronted him and responded, “This passenger took a seat according to the ticket she paid for.” Because of Rhea’s presence, the man appeared to be about to puke, and before he could say anything, he unfurled an immaculate handkerchief and covered his nose.
And he continued: “I don’t know what’s on her ticket, but I bought a seat in business class to get away from people like her, now it just feels like I’m in a cheap alley with homeless people.” The altercation had piqued the interest of several in the cabin, and some appeared to be supporting the man. One obese woman, adorned with jewelry from head to toe, spoke up.
“If I wanted to fly with such jerks, I’d buy an economy-class ticket,” she replied, eliciting a murmur of agreement from the passengers. The murmur immediately took on a life of its own, resulting in a squabble that the attendant attempted to settle, but the affluent individuals would not have it, and the woman had to leave. “Can’t you see she doesn’t belong here?” one man asked.
“Is this the lowest this airline has fallen? “How can such a person afford the bill?” another inquired. “We want her gone, and we want a formal apology for allowing us to come into contact with such filth,” the man beside Rhea stated. He and a few other passengers were standing and refusing to sit until they got what they wanted. Rhea sat there, listening to them argue and trample on her dignity.
“I’m okay, this too shall pass,” she repeated under her breath like a mantra. Still, she heard what they said about her, and it upset her greatly that people could be so nasty. Before she realized it, sad tears streamed down her slightly wrinkled cheeks. “Perhaps I’ll just leave,” Rhea reasoned, and began to gather her belongings with shaking hands.
As she rose up to leave, she fell, and instead of catching her as instinct would have dictated, the man near her cringed aside as if to escape being splashed with mud. Rhea dropped to her knees, unintentionally spilling the contents of her purse. She began to collect her belongings with shaky hands, aware that she was the attention of everyone in the cabin.
An expensively dressed old lady, who had been resting comfortably until the commotion aroused her, rose from her seat and went down on her knees to assist Rhea. The cabin went silent, and the passengers were taken aback as one of them handled Rhea like a human. The woman first picked up a passport photo of a young child. “Thank you very much,” Rhea said softly as she took it from her.
“This is my son,” she replied with a sad smile, still on her knees. “He is the pilot of this plane.” “He must have grown up to become a handsome young man,” stated the wealthy elderly woman. “How could I know? I had to give him up for adoption when he was just five years old because I could not afford to care for him.” As she spoke, tears streamed down her cheeks, and the cabin went silent.
“I have been seeking for him for years but have not found him. I recently learned that he had become a pilot, so I began looking for him at airports. Today I found him, but the only way I could get near to him was to take this flight.” Rhea looked up at the people around her, most of whom averted their eyes shamefully, before continuing.”
I apologize for making you all feel uncomfortable, but I simply wanted to be as close to my son as possible, which is why I saved up my money for this opportunity. The business class is closer to him, plus I’ve never flown before, so I thought it’d be an excellent birthday present for myself.” The passengers listened to her story, and by the time she finished speaking, several were in tears. Rhea eventually got up and followed the flight attendants, who were determined to introduce her to her son.
“What if he doesn’t want to see me?” she questioned, ignoring their insistence. “What if he hates me for abandoning him?” Before the flight attendant could reply, the man who had been against her sat near him and beat her to it. “You had no choice, and I believe he will understand that,” he added, hastily diving behind his newspaper again. He was also ashamed. Rhea departed with the flight attendant to finally meet her son.
After a while, a man’s voice was heard on the plane. “This is the captain speaking… there is a special person flying on this plane — my mom, and it’s her birthday today.” Everyone cheered the old lady, and others who had previously mocked her apologized for their mistake. When the plane landed, the pilot, Joseph, met up with his mother, and Rhea finally held her son after many years apart.