The Flight and The Sit-mate
When This Man Sees Who Sits Next To Him In The Plane, He’s Disgusted. 2 Hours Later, He Hates Himself For That.
The story starts with a man getting on a plane and taking his seat next to the window. It’s an ordinary flight, from Tokyo to Hong Kong. But when an overweight woman sits down next to him, his worst nightmare suddenly becomes a reality.
“‘Hi! How are you?’
The woman smiled as she took the seat beside me. She had to lower
herself slowly, squeezing her ample bottom into the seat, filling all
available space.
Positioning herself comfortably, she plopped her enormous arm on
our common armrest. Her immensity saturated the space around us,
shrinking me and my seat into insignificance.
I cringed and reclined towards the window.
She leaned towards me and repeated her greeting in an upbeat,
friendly voice. Her face towered above my head, forcing me to turn to
look at her. ‘Hi,’ I replied with obvious loathing.”
''I turned away to stare out the cabin window, sulking silently
about the long hours of discomfort I was going to experience with this
monster beside me.
She nudged me with her meaty arm. ‘My name is Laura. I’m from Britain. How about you? Japan?’
‘Malaysia,’ I barked.
‘I’m so sorry! Will you accept my heartfelt apology? Come, shake
my hand. If we’re going to spend six hours side-by-side on this flight,
we’d better be friends, don’t you think?’ A palm waved in front of my
face. I shook the hand reluctantly, still silent.
Laura started a conversation with me, taking no notice of my
unfriendly reactions. She talked excitedly about herself and her trip to
Hong Kong to see her friends. She rattled off a list of things she was
going to buy for her students in the boarding school where she was
teaching.
I gave her one-word answers to her questions about me.
Unperturbed by my coldness, she nodded as she made appreciative comments
to my answers. Her voice was warm and caring. She was considerate and
obliging when we were served drinks and meals, making sure that I had
room to maneuver in my seat. ‘I don’t want to clobber you with my
elephant size!’ she said with utmost sincerity.
To my surprise, her face which repulsed me hours before, now
opened into extraordinary smiles, lively and calm at the same time. I
couldn’t help but let down my guard slowly.
Laura was an interesting conversationalist. She was well read in
many subjects from philosophy to science. She turned a seemingly
unimportant subject into something to explore and understand. Her
comments were humorous and inspirational. When our topic turned to
cultures, I was pleasantly surprised by her intelligent comments and
well-thought-out analysis.
During our conversation, Laura managed to make every cabin crew who served us walk away laughing at her jokes.
When a flight attendant was clearing our plates, Laura cracked
several jokes about her size. The flight attendant roared with laughter
as she grabbed Laura’s hand, ‘You really make my day!’
For the next few minutes, Laura listened attentively and gave
pointers to the flight attendant’s weight problem. The grateful
attendant said before she rushed off, ‘I’ve got to work. I’ll come back
later and talk to you about it.’
I asked Laura, ‘Have you ever thought about losing some weight?’
‘No. I’ve worked hard to get this way. Why would I want to give it up?’
‘You aren’t worried about cardiovascular diseases that come with being overweight?’
‘Not at all. You only get the diseases if you’re worried about
your weight all the time. You see advertisements from slimming centers
that say, “Liberate yourself from your extra baggage so that you are
free to be yourself.” It’s rubbish! You’re liberated only if you’re
comfortable about who you are, and what you look like any time of the
day and anytime of the year! Why would I want to waste my time on
slimming regimes when I have so many other important things to do and so
many people to be friends with? I eat healthily and walk regularly; I’m
this size because I am born to be big! There is more to life than
worrying about weight all day long.’
She sipped at her wine. ‘Besides, God gives me so much happiness
that I need a bigger body to hold all of it! Why would I lose weight to
lose my happiness?’ Taken aback by her reasoning, I chuckled.
Laura continued. ‘Folks often see me as a fat lady with big
bosoms, big thighs and a big bottom that no man would even bother to
cast a glance at. They see me as a slob. They think I’m lazy and have no
willpower. They’re wrong.’
She held up her glass to a passing flight attendant. ‘More of
this magnificent wine, please.’ She smiled sweetly at the attendant.
‘Great service from your crew. May God bless all of you.’
She turned to me, ‘I’m actually a slim person inside. I’m so full
of energy that people won’t be able to keep up with me. This extra
flesh is here to slow me down, otherwise I’ll be running everywhere
chasing after men!’
‘Do men chase after you?’ I asked jokingly.
‘Of course they do. I’m happily married, but men still keep
proposing to me. Most of them have relationship problems and they need
someone to confide in. For some reason, they like to talk to me. I think
I should have been a counselor instead of a school teacher!’
Laura paused before she said thoughtfully, ‘You know, the
relationship between men and women is so complicated. Women worship men
and call them, “Honey” until they find out they have been lied to, and
then they turn into bitter gourds! Men love women so much that they see
them as their soul mates until they look at their credit card bills, and
then women become devils with tridents!’
Laura’s enthralling conversation had turned the flight into
something thoroughly enjoyable. I was also fascinated by the way people
were drawn to her. By the end of the flight, almost half the cabin crew
was standing near the aisle by us, laughing and joking with Laura. The
passengers around us joined in the merry-making, too. Laura was the
center of attention, filling the cabin with delightful warmth.”
“When we waved goodbye to each
other at the arrival lounge at Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Airport, I watched
her walking towards a big group of adoring adults and kids. Cheers
sounded as the group hugged and kissed Laura. She turned around and
winked at me.
I was stunned, as the realization set in: Laura was the most beautiful woman I had ever met in my life.”
Story Source *
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