暖冬cool夏

这里一年四季温暖如春,没有酷暑没有严寒......
个人资料
暖冬cool夏 (热门博主)
  • 博客访问:
正文

An encounter on the airplane

(2018-09-16 10:25:25) 下一个

I parted at the airport with my husband, who had an unexpected business trip the night we were leaving Seattle. As our trip was planned way ahead in May, the cancelation of the flight turned out to be a little bit costlier than the flight fare itself. So I decided to leave his ticket as is without cancelation to see what will happen. After going through the long security check and boarding lines,  I finally seated myself against a window.  Rested, I looked at the empty seat next to me with much contentment, fancying myself stretched sprawlingly when tired. Minutes before the take-off, a middle-aged woman showed up and squeezed in. She took the seat, a seat we paid for. I reluctantly straightened my body and moved my bag underneath closer to myself. I glanced at her and could not stop wondering when the seat was sold to her. Was it half an hour ago when the boarding was complete or was it even earlier when I made the call the day before?

About 15 minutes later, the plane finally geared up and propelled itself toward the dusk sky. The light was turned dim inside the cabin. It was quiet. Nobody was talking. Outside the window, the distant sunset sky was layered in pink on the top and blue at the bottom, the same scene I saw the third time now.  The air was stuffy as in any plane. Bored, I took out the cell phone to write my Chinese or English but found my brain drained. As the time ticked by, I started to feel restless, and keeping changing my sitting postures only made it worse. The monotonous engine noise of the plane added to the boredom and discomfort. The first one-hour flight seemed so unbearably long. The thought of another an hour and a half duration like this agitated me. The guy at the end of the isle was flipping his newspaper with annoying sounds. Turning around, I saw the lady next to me awake but buried her head low with the hood of the jacket covered all over. The unsettling question of when she got ticket came back to me.  I plucked up my courage, turned myself a little bit towards her and opened my mouth with a hi and an excuse- me.  She did not move or raised her head, her eyes fixating downward at her cell phone. I tried the two words again, but my second attempt failed as well.  Not sure why she did not respond to me, I turned back and continued my gaze outside the window.  Then the stewardess with a cart came over offering drink. I asked for a cup of orange juice. When it was her turn, she took off her hood and the earphones. I knew instantly that it must be the music in her earphones that drowned out my previous greeting.  After both of us were served with drinks, I caught a moment for her attention and thus began my third attempt to strike the conversation. Small talks were ensued by my story of what happened to my husband ticket, and my curiosity of when she purchased the ticket. She told me she got it for free, as two of her daughters work for the airline. Proudly she told me how she has been frequenting Seattle to see her daughters and grandchildren, and how as one of the employees’ perks, she, as a mom, always flies free, only that she has to wait till the last minute, like this time. She also told me how great the company is, which allowed one year maternal leave for her daughter without discounting any senoriority.  As our talks deepened, time sneaked away quickly. Not sure if I interrupted her for her private time, I gestured to her for her continuation of the music. She smiled back, saying that the talks made the time go faster, and she appreciated my small talks too.

Surprisingly my back did not feel that sore any more, nor my legs. Leisurely I looked out the window again, and this time the city beneath was visible from the  elevation. Out of darkness, there were silver rivers of lights glittering with golden colors woven in between. Irregular the patterns were,  they were like checkerboards carved out with dim borders flickering and moving. I don’t know which cities we were flying by, but the sight of night city scene from the sky above, along with the encounter of a nice lady added the color to my trip, ending an otherwise tiring journey with some enlightenment.

[ 打印 ]
阅读 ()评论 (66)
评论
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 '天凉好秋' 的评论 : Thanks, Cool Autumn. While mine contains Cool Summer, I name your English name as Cool Autumn:)) I think I suggested something similar in WXC's anniversary contest to have an English version so that it could extend to our next generation. We will see. Thank you for your compliment!
天凉好秋 回复 悄悄话 I really like your English writing. I had been thinking if there should be an English version of Wenxue City.
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 '夕阳影里一归舟' 的评论 : 归舟妹妹好!谢谢你这么仔细读我的英文,最近小说看多了,哈哈:))看来文学城要刮起写小说的旋风了:))归舟妹妹要不要是下一个啊?期待喔!谢谢你对我写英文的鼓励,我们一起努力!周末好!
夕阳影里一归舟 回复 悄悄话 到第二段的第5、6行,我几乎想说这个故事可以写成小说:-)有潜质啊,试试?都是子乔惹的,赫赫。
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 'ziqiao123' 的评论 : 刚刚从你家来,就看见你也刚刚来过,相信吗,有时人与人的相互牵挂惦记就是几乎同步的。同祝子乔中秋快乐,花好月圆!
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 'zhiyan' 的评论 : 不晚不晚,子燕,刚刚散步回来, 今晚没有月亮, 今年我连月饼也没买,你们的祝福就是我今年的中秋庆祝!也祝子乔中秋好!
ziqiao123 回复 悄悄话 暖冬中秋节快乐!
zhiyan 回复 悄悄话 喜欢你的故事。
虽然晚了,还是祝暖冬阖家节日快乐~
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 'xiaxi' 的评论 : 谢谢遐西,你家的门最近一直关着,同祝中秋快乐!
xiaxi 回复 悄悄话 暖冬中秋快乐!
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 '水沫' 的评论 : 水沫好!今天上班很忙,刚刚才吃中饭,尚来不及细读你的新帖。谢谢水沫的仔细和鼓励,节日快乐!
水沫 回复 悄悄话 暖冬的英文好棒,祝阖家中秋快乐~
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 'yy56' 的评论 : 谢谢闻香,祝闻香全家中秋快乐!
yy56 回复 悄悄话 中秋节快乐!
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 '土豆-禾苗' 的评论 : 哈哈,土豆幽默。祝土豆禾苗全家中秋快乐!
土豆-禾苗 回复 悄悄话 middle fall jie fast happy,:))
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 '时隐时现' 的评论 : 时隐mm多日不见啦,太高兴你来了,可惜这个中秋什么也没做,没有月饼,给mm端杯清茶,以表谢意,谢谢你特意前来看我!文章没时间不必看了,文章写得退步了,可以写的内容不多了。再次感谢mm,祝全家中秋快乐,健康平安!
时隐时现 回复 悄悄话 好久未见冬夏MM了。先祝MM全家中秋快乐!抽空再慢慢阅读、学习
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 '菲儿天地' 的评论 : 菲儿有心了,谢谢啦!你怎么关门了?看到了一组你的照片,很时尚很精致漂亮的(菲儿细长的手指-指如削葱根)。也祝菲儿中秋快乐了!
菲儿天地 回复 悄悄话 祝有才的暖冬中秋阖家快乐幸福!
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 '风清fq' 的评论 : Wow, I feel flattered abd exalted at your compliment. It is just a journal to record a seemingly trivial encounter, which occurs in our daily life. We are shaped by the world and people around us. Thank you, 风清, for stopping by and reading my post. Happy mid-Autumn!
风清fq 回复 悄悄话 It is a well-written story, and it certainly gives me great joy to read such precise, evocative and visually-charged sentences. Thank you for sharing your unique experience with us.
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 '碧蓝天' 的评论 : 谢谢蓝mm美言,我这是练笔呢。祝蓝mm中秋节快乐!
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 '康赛欧' 的评论 : 康康好!谢谢留言。欢迎来南加居住一阵,其实这里除了房价高,其他生活开销并不贵,也很方便。中秋快乐!
碧蓝天 回复 悄悄话 写得好细腻!赞这么好的英文!佩服!
航空公司的福利真不错!
康赛欧 回复 悄悄话 以前听说过航空公司给的福利,对于喜欢旅游的家庭挺不错的。对我来说,坐飞机是件不舒服的事,所以不喜欢出门旅行,呵呵。。。
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 '小溪姐姐' 的评论 : Sister Xiaoxi,thank you very much for listening to my singing. Nowadays few people will be interested in that, and I recorded for my own entertaining and to share in Wechat moments for my parents' sake. Also thank you for recommending Ms. Jiang's song. She is one of my favorite singers too. Her voice is very unique and sweet. Let's see if I can sing it:)). Many thanks again, Sister Xiaoxi!!
小溪姐姐 回复 悄悄话 回复 '暖冬cool夏' 的评论 : Thank you for your good words, this really makes my heart warm. I am very fortunate meeting you and other friends here. I really value your friendship, which is of great significance to me.
I combined Chinese and English in the first message, which may cause the problem to send the entire message.
小溪姐姐 回复 悄悄话 回复 '暖冬cool夏' 的评论 :I also listened to your song about 《Qinzhang Highland》several times. You have very sweet voice, deep understanding of the song and good sense of the rhythm of the music. I thought if you sing【The Father’s grassland and Mother’s river】,I bet you will sing very well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shtojXCyhSw
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 '小溪姐姐' 的评论 : Sister Xiaoxi, I guess a lot of people like me were actually saddened the other day a couple of months that you shut down your blog. I could have QQH-ed you privately, but I knew you simply needed a little bit time to think it through. We missed you, sister Xiaoxi, and I have been carrying hopes upon hopes that you won't be another 觉晓. I know you shouldn't and wouldn't . You prove me right today, and I was thrilled at seeing you back a couple of weeks ago. Look, how rejoicing we are at your return! Welcome back, sister Xiaoxi ! Let's move forward hand in hand in this virtual city, and live our days to the fullest.
Many thanks to you for dropping by and your great compliment. I am so appreciative of your kindness! Best regards to your husband, and have a great weekend!
小溪姐姐 回复 悄悄话 回复 '暖冬cool夏' 的评论 :真对不起,第一次发生的情况,留言不能完整发上来,发了三次,都是一样。请删除。刚把完整留言用悄悄话发给你了。
小溪姐姐 回复 悄悄话 Just dropped in to say Hi, I read your beautiful and well-written story, as always, I did enjoy and like it. I also listened to your song
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 '思韵如蓝' 的评论 : 思韵妹妹来了!谢谢你特意前来阅读和夸赞,周末愉快!
思韵如蓝 回复 悄悄话 跟豆豆的读感一样: 暖冬写得平和温暖,又栩栩如生。
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 '菲儿天地' 的评论 : 菲儿好!是啊,我也准备明年过年回家,也是怕飞,尤其是一个人,真是累的,但是没办法,我有朋友在飞机上吃一颗安眠药睡觉,不知道该不该效仿。谢谢菲儿临博美言,希望你车祸后一切安好!
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 'xiaxi' 的评论 : 遐西周六好!改票一般是要收钱的,各个航空公司不同,除非你买了像保险一类的东西。谢谢遐西临博夸赞!
菲儿天地 回复 悄悄话 回复 '过客手笺' 的评论 : +1暖冬写得真好,把我乘飞机的感受都写出来了,只是我更加怕坐飞机,两个小时就要开始不耐烦,领导说你中国怎么飞的,圣诞怎么办?:)
xiaxi 回复 悄悄话 我改过机票,但不知cancel还要自己贴钱进去。
暖冬的英语真好!周末快乐!
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 '彩烟游士' 的评论 : Hi, scholar! I was lucky to encounter a nice lady that day, buy if she was not friendly, obviously the conversation wouldn't continue. Thanks for stopping by every Friday! Have a wonderful weekend!
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 '过客手笺' 的评论 : Thanks, doudou, stopping by and your encouragement. Unlike many people like you, I am not a travel person. But travel does broaden our mind, and people we encounter add spices to it. Looking forward to more of your wonderful travel journals! Have a great weekend!
彩烟游士 回复 悄悄话 Ladies only know how to talk:)

暖冬周末快乐!
过客手笺 回复 悄悄话 A heartwarming journal, precisely, vividly and romantically presented!
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 '每天一讲' 的评论 : 一讲好!Right, my curiosity got satisfied, and the seat got justied. Though I like it being spacious, at least it was not empty and wasted. Thanks for stopping by, and TGIF!
每天一讲 回复 悄悄话 She told me she got it for free, as two of her daughters work for the airline.
================================================================

哈哈,finally after small talking, 暖冬,curiosity satisfied ? :))

good day :)
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 '7grizzly' 的评论 : Right, how they view China (Hongkong in particular) in 19th century. I am at page 82 now. So far so good. Thanks again!
7grizzly 回复 悄悄话 回复 '暖冬cool夏' 的评论 : I was about to read more Clavell books and "Taipan" will be the next. Many Westerners learn about Japan through "Shogun." "Taipan" sure will show how they view China of the time.
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 '7grizzly' 的评论 : Correction: same author "as" Shogun. I keep making small grammatical mistakes:)) Thank you for making me aware that it is "on" a plane,(like on a train, on a bus, on a boat, etc.) Happy Friday!
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 'Once-always' 的评论 : Oncemm好!不晚不晚,这本来就是练笔的短文,没什么要紧的,不读也没什么。谢谢mm的惦记!说起这次的航班,因为我最初定的是来回,都不记得单程回程是多少钱,所以打电话问询。当得知cancel的钱还贵一些时,我就不想cancel,可电话里的服务员说,如果不能make it,最好cancel掉,可以把座位让给有需要的人。我心想,谁让你们不合理,让我学雷锋啊:))谢谢mm的中秋问候,同祝mm中秋快乐!
Once-always 回复 悄悄话 来晚了,今天才看到暖mm的小文,上班路上细细读着,特别享受暖mm的文字,也让我这一程缩短了呢。航空公司都玩这种猫腻啊,我前年回国因为要临时改机票,也是花了双倍的钱。你这下可是做了回密探,了解了很多内幕哦。昨晚给妈妈打电话才知道马上要中秋节了,祝暖mm中秋快乐,花好月圆之夜,浪漫多多!
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 '7grizzly' 的评论 : Thank you, my friend, for your compliment! Curiosity kills the cat, and in my case, spurs the conversation. I normally don't talk to a stranger on an airplane either. You know what, I coincidentally bought a used book called Tai-pan from the library about a month ago, and then realized that it is the same author of Shogun a couple days ago. I am reading Tai-pan now when Shogun is in transit. Happy reading to you:))
7grizzly 回复 悄悄话 Well written and informative. You have the enviable knack of holding an interesting conversation. I don't remember when was the last time I chatted with someone on an airplane.
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 'ARooibosTea' 的评论 : 茶妹好!你留过言的,多谢!Thank you for reading my English, and I appreciate your compliment. To keep up writing in English is not easy, and I sometimes have to push myself. Hopefully, constant practice will make my English writing better. Thank you so much for stopping by and your two comments!
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 'GraceX' 的评论 : Grace好!谢谢你每次仔细的阅读和留言,你的美言我收下了,就当是鞭策自己继续努力。是啊,这次的回程觉得特别累,可能是在女儿那里累着了,想想明年还要回国真是有点怕的。航空公司的福利听上去是不错,想想也是,这座位浪费了多可惜。谢谢Grace,祝你周中好!
ARooibosTea 回复 悄悄话 暖冬,更正我的说法, 应该是读你的英文散记是第一次。写得真好!
ARooibosTea 回复 悄悄话 Dear Mrs. Cool Summer, Please allow me try my horrible English. Possible this is my first time to your blog, but I am failing in love with your writing right on. How delicate and exquisite prose you wrote!
GraceX 回复 悄悄话 暖冬好!一个很简单的飞行,让你描绘得有声有色。一般超过一个半小时的飞行,总会让我有些不舒服,尤其是边上坐着陌生老外,挤在一起更难受,如果是老中也许会好很多,可以随便聊。(^o^)/~不过,你也至少跟她聊了几句,转移了不少坐飞机的不适。你先生的飞机票被她占了,没想到航空公司有这么好的福利。像她那样常飞,一年真可以省下不少钱了:)
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 '迪儿' 的评论 : 迪儿好!国内航空也有这样的待遇啊,看来现今的全球化真是到方方面面的。问候迪儿!
迪儿 回复 悄悄话 我的一个大学室友在南航工作,上次看她等票,也是要等到最后才知道结果。
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 '寒一凡' 的评论 : 嗯,是的。谢谢一凡临博鼓励,祝新的一周一切安好!
寒一凡 回复 悄悄话 真有意思,航空公司的福利太好了!
暖冬的英文真棒!:)
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 '南山松' 的评论 : 松松好!是嘛,那确实不错,只是时间不好掌控些。最近一期的Fortune杂志列举了很多公司的员工福利,看看也挺有意思的。谢谢松松的信息,祝新周好!
南山松 回复 悄悄话 我儿子以前的一个朋友的妈妈在航空公司工作,她是做会计方面的工作。她就常带着他儿子免费坐飞机,就是要等哪架飞机有空位就上哪架。
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 'ziqiao123' 的评论 : Thank you, Ziqiao, for your reading and comment. Thank you for pointing it out. I took it seriously, and showed the sentence to my husband to see his comment. He had the exact same reaction, stopping at "keeping changing". So it must be my bad in writing this way. But if you read on, you will find that "keeping changing" here is the subject of "only made it worse". Therefore, grammatically, it is correct. But maybe I shall write it in a different way to avoid confusion. Thanks again, Ziqiao, for your reading and encouragement. Have a nice new week!
ziqiao123 回复 悄悄话 I enjoyed reading your prose, so delightful. As the return, I nitpicked a typo in your article:
"I started to feel restless, and keeping changing"

哈哈,暖冬周日愉快!
暖冬cool夏 回复 悄悄话 回复 'yy56' 的评论 : 谢谢闻香来读我的英文。是的,福利不错,一星期好像也只需完成几次飞行就好了。祝闻香新一周快乐!
yy56 回复 悄悄话 真没想到航空公司会有这么好的福利。
[1]
[2]
[3]
[尾页]
登录后才可评论.