How much power does a negative thought have over a fairly positive mind? The answer is – a LOT. Say what you may, we all know that fears take over our thoughts that manifest into actions that we are apologetic about by the end of the day. It has been a week now that the fear within me has made me go back and forth with my decision to alter my time spent at work.
Is it better to give in to fear or is it better to face it? Try being at the receiving end of flying short even when the fight hasn’t left short. Then we have those in charge who decide that the best thing to do is to smooth out the creases by avoiding THE problem. THEN, when we manage to find the courage within to actually address THE problem, THE problem finds a problem in you. The common denomination is “THE”. Slice the cake with a gold knife or plain dig into it with your bare hands, if the ingredients were stale the taste will be, SHITE!
So, after a lot of back and forth and after being lucky and blessed with situations that have sheltered me from being exposed to negativity, I now find myself staring at it in “THE” face. So much so that here I am, typing out my thoughts at 8:36 am on my off day. Time always heals but some wounds involve over 10,000 steps in a span of 2 hours in a confined space of 45m a lot harder to come to terms with. This is especially true when it involves wounds related to callouses on your little toes on both feet. Remember, the duty day spans over 12 hours minimum. How do you pace yourself? All the pacing around is done by the rest of us while “THE” takes a snooze on the last seat. I am loving this use of “the ” article. There are a lot of “THE”‘s that I am surrounded by but a good majority of them are once-in-a-year kinds of interactions. Layovers and road trips end up providing you with the opening to disconnect and rejuvenate your soul. The problem arises when you take “THE” on the road trip with you. WHY “THE” HELL? See, the “THE” personality isn’t the” in-your-face ” kind. It is more subtle, give it time it’ll make itself known.
This leads me to the following conclusion. I have two choices. Face it and have a heavy day or not give it so much importance, still have a heavy day because it will physically drain you, that part is inevitable because someone has to pick up “THE”s slack.
There is however a 3rd option. Wait another 12 minutes and let the clock tick 9 and see how your luck changes. Till then, dark chocolate, a side of 2 chocolate labs and a piping hot cup of Rosemary tea is doing the trick.
There might be a second part to this story. Curiosity is killing me and the hunger pangs are gnawing at me. This calls for a cheese omelette with sourdough toast.
HAPPY 2023! I am so pumped to get this year rolling. The last few weeks have been quite hectic work-wise but all in a very good way. It is a good problem to have when you have no time to ponder and dwell on things. Days are passing by so fast and here we are, already in the new year. Another year, new adventures await and more memories to create.
Yesterday’s flight was interesting. You know you have been flying a lot when passengers start recognising you with your face half-covered with the mask. Fooling this man would have taken more than just the face being covered with a mask. As we get ready to close the door and I head towards the aft, doing the baggage check, I get stooped by this little man
“Oh! Habibi!!!”
My reaction to his utter open-arm gesture and friendly pleasantries was, ” UMMM no. Not me. You are confusing me with someone else”. ” No Habibi, it is you. You brought me to Cuba in the middle of December. You will remember me I promise you, but I can recognise you even with your mask on. It’s the eyes I remember.”
I acknowledged his politeness and friendly “HABIBIII” and carried on with my checks.
This niggling thought kept pestering me as the flight progressed. I tried to dig into my memory bank and figure out if he was on the ball or was plain pulling my leg.
Oh, he was on the ball. As we got ready to commence the meal service, something clicked and I went back to “Habibiii” and said to him
“HABIBIII, I REMEMBER YOU!!!!!” You grocery shopped from our meal cart and bought EVERYTHING, (leaving the rest of the aircraft hurling insults at us coz we had nothing left to sell to them, but that was quickly sorted out with the sale of alcohol instead of food. Some people love eating Heineken for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner)
YES HABIBIII YES, NOW you remember me!! We both laughed. This little gentleman, with the impish face, was with his wife who seemed so bogged down with the load of dealing with 4 kids looked at me and said, ” I knew you would remember us.”
How did I even forget them? They were friendly, they were kind, and they were happy as they were leaving on vacation and they went grocery shopping. Today’s return flight was no different. The “R side” was stopped by Habibiii and his actual Habibi and they purchased everything my colleagues had in their cart. As our service came to an end, my co-worker came to the back and said
“WE HAD NOTHING LEFT FOR THE REST OF THE PLANE. This family (and in unison, we both said) ” Went grocery shopping”.” Her gaze was met by my roar of laughter as I explained to her my experience with Habibii and his cute little family.
Some days are so hard on the body with the movement and non-stop action at work but it is passengers like Habibi x6 that make it all the more fun and that long long day a memorable one. I wouldn’t trade my job for anything.
It lasted for about 10 minutes. All I had to do was type out ” I miss flying” followed by a frustrated looking emojie and the phone rang. It was him. Napoleon. We chatted for over an hour and probably for the first time in our friendship, I expressed to him what he meant to me. What our friendship meant to me. Why it even meant something.
It was important to let him know this because when you spend over an hour talking about someone (who can crawl under your skin so often that you try and shake them off, they are still hanging there,) it means something. They mean something. He means something. It means that you are your true self with this person and they love you for who you are, just as you love them for who they are. That is a FRIENDSHIP.
Flashback:-
Yesterday, all the memories flashed in front of my eyes and they made me laugh and realise how lucky I am to have a friend who has very good morals and ethics and very annoying personality. Who doesn’t?
We were laying over in Trocadero- Paris ( the crew hotel was full and the overflow was sent off to the 2nd approved hotel, in this case: Trocadero). It was early morning, 6:00 AM when a knock on the door woke me up. “Service au chambre!” Pardon?? I didn’t order any room service, and that too this early!? “Non, Merci!” Well, the knocking continued and I hopped out of bed to open the door. This man, perfectly dressed up with a crisp clean white undershirt, perfectly creased black trousers, hair slick and shiny, one hand at a right angle with a white towel hanging and the other one holding up a tray full of food. An assortment of danishes, hard-boiled egg with baguette and cheese/butter and a glass of orange juice. I looked at the delivery guy and laughed at the joke. He wasn’t having it, he kept a straight face, handed me the tray and went off. I took the tray back to the bed, still stunned at what had happened and smiled, the biggest smile because it warmed my heart and it fed my spare tyre! Napoleon was the delivery boy
The flight had been long and tiring, probably due to a mad flight scheduled cupped with a very active full day, before the flight. All I remember doing was getting the call lights the whole night after the end of meal/drink service. It was an active flight. Paris flights are, especially when the crew you are flying with is witty, fun and real. It was a good flight. The drive from Charles de Gaulle to Saint – Germaine is a good hour-long drive during rush-hour. I tossed my heels and was horizontal on the last 3 seats of the crew bus getting a strong-handed foot rub. I am a sucker for massage, and if you love me, you give me one! Somehow it has always fallen in my favour. No, wait! It is because I am so lucky to have people who love me so much that they are willing to give me a foot rub. Forever indebted. Not them, I! Like the time we sneaked into the movie theatre and the price for having access to 3 movies on a day off, with only paying for the first movie- well, a strong-handed FOOT RUB. Napoleon was the Masseuse
My parents were moving to Canada in 2009 and I had no conveyance arranged. A casual mention of this came up in the conversation and next I am saddled up in the Jimmy GMC and on my way to the airport to greet my real parents, his adopted parents. Our friendship was in its infantile stage then as we had only met twice before on a flight and a layover in Cancun, but I believe that day it laid out its first cement block. Napoleon was the Driver
The day in September 2012 when the Oncology nurses station received the biggest bouquet for my mum from someone in Montreal, was the day the foundation was set in stone. It was the gesture of care and love, wanting to uplift the spirits of everyone. Napoleon was the sender
In Venice, early morning, bumping into an ironing expert in the Crew ironing station on the 4th floor, I learnt for the first time that the area above the shoulders also needs to be ironed. Who knew that it even existed? The shoulder patch. Who irons that? I surely can tell you now that it makes a whole lot of difference! Napoleon taught me to iron right
Bidding same days off so we could go to New York. Help set up shop for the New York trade show and get ready to represent my sister’s collection at – http://www.allemstudio.com throughout engaging the possible buyers into a product we believe in, all with hearty laugh and giggles. Napoleon was the Salesman
Heading on a road trip with him towards New York, only to receive a call reminding me of the evening get-together at my place, that I was supposed to be hosting. The car was turned right back around and I was dropped home, to get busy preparing a feast for 4 friends that I had promised to feed that evening. Well, guess what? My “4 friends” all cancelled on me an hour before showing up at home. My food was still enjoyed but by real friends this time. Napoleon, my sister and her friend. The ones that mattered.
Beholden:-
It is seldom acknowledged and that is the sad part. Our brains, our ego, our persona is so primed to spit out everything that isn’t going right with a situation, people in our lives, our jobs etc. We forget or sometimes don’t even come close to ever realizing, leave aside acknowledging those that truly matter. It is often quite late by the time the realization sets in, by then the situation, the people, those that matter the most are on a different path altogether, and your self-indulgence, which was throughout so clear to others while they were there in your life supporting you, becomes clear to you. It feels good to tell them that “their friendship” brings something to “your life.”
Thank you Naps for being a true friend . You uplift me, sometimes 😀
Mirthspot 