As I grow older, I find myself becoming a creature of habit. Everything has to be just-so. And when I travel, I miss my routine and all the familiar things that go into making up my day. I miss all of these; my own bed, my house ( I really miss my house), walking around in the front yard drinking my coffee and planning my day, my niece running in for a hug in the evening, sitting and talking with my parents,the daily routine of instructing the cook, the maid, the nurse, the gardener and the driver. And I wonder whether I'm becoming old and frightened of change.
Yesterday, on the flight back home, all these thoughts were running through my head when I overheard a conversation between a passenger and the stewardess. The stewardess had just served breakfast; chicken sandwiches. Small bite sized chicken sandwiches. Triangles of fresh flaky bread with just the right amount of mayonnaise, tender moist chicken sliced at just the right thickness for an easy bite, a dash of mustard, a sprinkling of pepper and salt. Altogether quite a nice breakfast. Or so I thought.
The gentleman behind me obviously didn't. He was quite vociferous about the fact that 'We are Indians and Indians do not like bread'. He'd made it into a patriotic issue. Totally another matter that the stewardess and 99% of the passengers were Indian and all of us were quite happy with bread for breakfast. He was probably not used to sandwiches for breakfast. Talk about not liking change. Thanks to one passenger's dislike for bread and his inability to put up with something that didn't suit him, the rest of the flight was quite unpleasant for most of us.
But I found myself relaxing with quite a happy smile on my face because the scene he made had clarified some issues for me. Yes, I might miss my home and everything familiar when I travel; but I'll keep travelling as much as I can because it keeps me from becoming a stick-in-the-mud.
4 comments:
Ah yes, the joys of flying... I confess that on more than one occasion I have wished for an "eject" button I could press to rid the plane of an annoying person. Of course, said person would have a parachute and make a safe landing -- and the rest of us would finish the journey in peace.
oohh yes.. two things that annoy me on a flight....one is....if i have the aisle seat, then having a neighbour who wants to visit the toilet every few minutes....i also get very annoyed by a person sitting behind me, who will hang on to my seat like he/she is holding on to a railing inside a bus, each time they move from their seat.....!! that really bugs me....
but coming to ur post...i get the point...and yeaa.. i love travelling...esp on trains...and yes i have had plenty of experiences on trains that would not make me want to go on them again....but, ill keep on traveling...afterall, the people who get places are the ones who keep on moving :)
@pam
the image you just conjured up has put a bigger smile on my face.
@mac
:-) yeah. I've had some train journeys too. And you've given me such a lovely idea for a future post!
ok..now i cant wait for ur train post :)
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