An elderly mother from a disadvantaged family chose business class to be close to her son. However, she was rejected by the other passengers until they learned who she really was.
Rhea was embarrassed. The elderly passenger who boarded the first plane to leave the airport that morning was seated in business class, where the wealthy usually sat.
Nobody gave her a second glance as she entered the cabin, but as she took a seat, heads turned in her direction. She was an obvious outlier, which was the main cause of the problem.
Rhea wore her worn-in, worn-out clothing, which was her best, but which appeared dreary in comparison to the fancy and expensive-looking clothing that the other men and women in attendance were wearing.
When she sat down, the man next to her was intensely engrossed in a newspaper and did not immediately notice her. After putting the matter to rest, he glanced to his side, cringed at how she appeared, and then motioned for a flight attendant.
He pointed at Rhea and asked, “What is this?”
Initially mortified by the man’s tone, the flight attendant checked the woman’s seat number before turning to face him and said, “This passenger chose a seat in accordance with the ticket she paid for.”
Due to Rhea’s presence, the man appeared as though he would throw up at any moment. Before starting to speak, he opened a clean handkerchief and covered his nose with it. “I don’t know what’s on her ticket, but I bought a seat in business class to get away from people like her, and now it just feels like I’m in a cheap alley with homeless people,” he continued.
Many others in the cabin had noticed the altercation, and some appeared to be in favor of the man. One chubby woman who was covered from head to toe in jewelry spoke up.
She said, “If I wanted to fly with such riff-raff, I would buy an economy class ticket,” and the other passengers nodded in accord.
The murmur quickly developed into a fight, which the attendant tried to break up, but the wealthy people would have none of it and demanded that the woman leave.
One man remarked, “Can’t you see she doesn’t belong here.”
“Has this airline really sunk to this level? How is it that they can pay the bill? “Another query.
The man next to Rhea stated, “We want her gone and we demand a formal apology for letting us come in contact with such trash.”
He and a few other people in the car were standing up and wouldn’t sit down until they received what they wanted. Rhea sat there and watched as they fought and humiliated one other.
She recited “I’m okay, this too shall pass” under her breath like a mantra.
She nonetheless heard what they said about her, and she was greatly affected by how vicious they were. Before she knew it, her slightly wrinkly cheeks were covered with sad tears.
Rhea pondered, “Perhaps I’ll just leave,” and with trembling hands she began to assemble her belongings.
When she fell while getting up to leave, the man next her cringed away as if trying to escape getting covered in mud rather than catching her as instinct should have made him do.
Rhea accidentally spilled the contents of her purse when she knelt down. Knowing she was the center of attention for everyone in the cabin, she began to gather her belongings with shaking hands.
A well-dressed elderly woman who had been sound asleep until the disturbance woke her up got up from her seat and assisted Rhea by bending down on her knees.
The passengers watched in stunned silence as one of them began to treat Rhea like a human at that point. A passport photo of a young boy was the first thing the mom took out.
As she took it from her, Rhea muttered, “Thank you very much.”
Still on her knees, she continued, “This is my son,” with a tearful grin. “He is this plane’s pilot.”
The wealthy elderly woman remarked, “He must have grown up to become a gorgeous young man.
“How was I to know? He was only five when I had to put him up for adoption due to financial hardship.” She talked while wiping away tears, and the cabin was silent.
“Years have passed and I still haven’t been able to locate him. I recently learned that he become a pilot, so I started hunting for him in airport after airport. Today I discovered him, but the only way to approach him was to take this flight.”
Rhea raised an eyebrow at others nearby, the most of whom shamefully turned away, before continuing.
“I apologize for making you all uncomfortable, but the reason I saved up my money to gain this opportunity was simply so I could be as close to my son as possible. Since I’ve never traveled before and the business class is closer to him, I figured it would make a fantastic birthday present for me.”
As the passengers listened to her story, many of them started crying by the time she finished. Eventually, Rhea stood up and followed the flight attendants, who were determined to introduce her to her son.
She resisted their pushing, “What if he doesn’t want to see me?” she questioned. “What if he thinks I hate him for leaving him?” The man seated next to him, who had been opposing her, spoke before the flight attendant could finish.
He responded, “You have no option, I think he’ll get that,” before swiftly hiding behind his newspaper once more. He also felt humiliated. In order to finally meet her son, Rhea departed with the flight attendant.
After a while, a man’s voice could be heard on the aircraft. This is the captain speaking, and there’s a special passenger on the aircraft today is my mother, who is celebrating her birthday.
The elderly woman was praised by all, and those who had before made fun of her accepted responsibility for their error. After many years of estrangement, the pilot, Joseph, and his mother were reunited when the plane touched down. Rhea was finally able to hold her son once more.
What can we infer from this tale?
Determine to be kind. Others joined in when the man next to Rhea began to yell for her to leave the cabin, and even though the woman did nothing, they might have been successful in getting her to leave. One more elderly woman was the lone exception to what they did. She could have easily joined the arrogant travelers, but she stood up for Rhea instead, and her choice altered everything.
Never surrender. Rhea spent years trying to find her son but was unable to do so. Despite this, she persisted in her search. She persisted in hunting for him and was prepared to do anything, even saving up her hard-earned cash for an expensive business class journey, to finally meet him. She was able to meet him as a result of her perseverance and sacrifices.