Inflight

(this is my submission to the Independent Writer Union site)- reposting here.

This was my  Nth airplane ride. Nothing new, nothing spectacular. I am not one of those people who wants the window seat to look at the scenery (I have an aisle seat by the way). I sit back as I wait for the airplane to taxi down the runway. The heat outside is palpable and I could see the blast of air from the airconditioning coming out like mists from the sides of the windows. The pilot introduces  his crew and I ignore them.  By this time, I would have normally grabbed the inflight magazine provided but there was none. I sighed, cheap domestic flight. I try to settle into the seat as best I could. Beside me, a young mestiza girl crosses her legs indian style and begins playing with her ipod touch.  I restrain myself from looking over her shoulder. On the other side of her, an older woman whips out a book and begins to read. Lucky her.

I resign myself to boredom and stare at the seat in front of me.  Written in bold were these words: FASTEN SEATBELT WHILE SEATED and  LIFE VEST UNDER YOUR SEAT -

It suddenly dawned on me how these two declarations have such a profound meaning.

"Always keep your seatbelt fastened even when the no seatbelt sign is on" is what the captain of the plane reminds us. It's for safety. Life is like a plane. Our parents, in their own capacity, try to prepare us for our own journey. I wish there was a better way they can train us. Like watching an inflight video- you learn everything at one sitting. At one point in our lives, we do really need to "fasten our seatbelts". There are times though, when in the  flight that is our lives, we, as the pilot, lose control of the plane. That is when we need the..........

LIFE VEST UNDER YOUR SEAT 

Whoa. You try not to get into these situations, but you never know. Who are the life vests in your life? The ones that keep you afloat in times when you feel yourself sinking? It maybe your friends, your family or even GOD. 

When faced with situations that we cannot imagine handling, we either sink, swim or hold on to our life vests. Maybe that's how they coined the term "you are a lifesaver". 

I spent the rest of the flight musing about seatbelts and life vests. I got peanuts as a snack. (you get peanuts in life too-- as in, mina mani mani ka).  As I eat my peanuts, I realized, you can always see things, but it is not often you get something out of them.