Airplane Chronicles - Southwest On Saturday I had a flight to the Bay Area in preparation for the Grand Mawlid event. I was excited to see my dear friend Leena Parwana who was going to pick me up. I got my pre-board slip for Southwest Airlines so was standing in the queue waiting to enter the plane. In front of me was an older woman, possibly in her 60s, with a young toddler sitting in a stroller. She was waiting to enter the plane as well and had with her a rolling bag in addition to the stroller. It took her some time to get on the plane so I ended up sitting in my seat before her. When she got on after me I noticed her struggling with the toddler and her bag. There were others standing behind her, impatiently rushing her to move forward so they could get to their seats. I got up from my seat and asked her if I could help her to her seat. Ill never forget the desperate look she gave me when she asked me if she could sit next to me. I was sitting in the 3rd row on the right side of the plane in the aisle seat and the middle and window seats were both empty. I immediately said, Of course! and proceeded to put her bag in the seat next to mine. The crowd forming behind us was again was growing impatient. We finally sat down but the young toddler was very uncomfortable and began to cry almost instantly. I sat down in my seat and tried to give her some space to calm him down. I watched as passenger after passenger entered the plane and annoyingly looked over at us. One woman who was sitting in the front row seemed especially annoyed as she kept turning around to glare at us with disapproval. The grandmother was so worried about calming the boy down she was pleading with him, repeating his name over and over again and begging him to not do this to me...please calm down. For whatever reason there was a delay (no surprise, we were on Southwest after all) and every second we were grounded seemed like a minute. The child kept crying and thrashing about. She offered him milk, water, crackers, toys, but to no avail. He was in the middle of a full blown meltdown. Several passengers and a couple of flight attendants assumed he was my son and asked me how old he was, what was wrong, did he need a nap, or to be changed, etc. I explained that he wasnt my son and I wasnt sure what was wrong. Almost on the verge of tears she began to tell me and every person who walked by and looked over at us, from the sympathetic flight attendants to the rubberneckers, that her grandson was a very good boy but he was autistic and the sounds on the airplane were scaring him. She held him and tried desperately to calm him down but all he wanted to do was go under the seats and hide. Her arms at one point gave out and she couldnt carry him at all so I asked her if I could help her and hold him. She was so relieved that I asked and desperately said, Yes, please! I picked him up gently and tried to comfort him but despite my attempts, he kept slipping out of my arms to get to the ground. Finally, the flight crew began preparing everyone for take-off and told us repeatedly to please put him in his seat and buckle him up for take-off. Every attempt to restrain him was met with loud screams and a fight. The seat belt was just not going on him no matter what we both tried to do. We tried to explain to them but they insisted, robotically, that we needed to put him in his seat before take-off. At that point, I just used my body to shield them both and told the grandmother not to worry but to do whatever she needed to do. Eventually, after nearly 30 minutes the plane got moving. By then I had taken over. She was exhausted and sweating and just couldnt hold him anymore. I carefully positioned him on his back with his feet up against the seat in front of him. He seemed to like this position and allowed me to pat him calmly on his chest and sing to him while I held up his iPad and showed him pictures of Thomas the Train. His cries and whimpers slowed down and he began to yawn and rub his eyes. He was so exhausted but resisted sleeping. For the remainder of the flight, he stayed that way and had just a few minor hiccups along the way. The grandmother thanked me profusely and we began to talk about his condition and how she had just cared for him for 10 days without any problems and was returning him to his parents who had taken a vacation. I told her she was an amazing grandmother and deserved a medal for not only being so incredibly loving and patient but so helpful and generous with her time. This dear sweet boy just wanted to feel safe. He didnt want his toys, milk, food, or anything else. He just wanted to feel the security of the ground beneath him and to hide from the roars of the engine, unfamiliar voices, and the many other congested sounds of a full airplane. It was an eye-opening experience for me to see the insensitive reaction of so many people on the plane, many of whom didnt know of his condition but regardless reacted impatiently and resentfully at the inconvenience of having to listen to his cries. We have a lot of work to do as a society when we cant show basic empathy for an elderly woman struggling or an unwell child. I was grateful to God for allowing me to meet her and her beautiful grandson and to do my part to validate her and protect her from the ugliness that surrounded us. When he calmed down and even laughed at one point playing with a sticker I had given him, we both had a nice long sigh of relief. She even joked that it felt like she had just given labor! And then she said, Thank you so much, youre a God-sent. It sure takes a village... to which I told her there was nothing to thank me for, it was my pleasure and that indeed raising children does take a village! We exchanged information, and when we landed and got off the plane I gave her a warm hug before departing. When I went to the airport yesterday for my return to Orange County I had this strange feeling that I would see her again on my return flight. And sure enough, as soon as I arrived to my gate there she was sitting in one of those pay-massage chairs. We were so happy to see each other and instantly laughed at the irony and craziness of our shared experiences! :) May God increase our compassion and return empathy and love in our hearts. The Entitled Bratty Selfish Train that much of humanity has long been riding on needs to be derailed PERMANENTLY.
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 04:57:11 +0000
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