The overnight flight was long and tiring. Fourteen hours on a plane, even if one is in the front of the bus takes its toll. I am sure that landing at 6 am did not help. I was not alone. Around me I saw disheveled hair, wrinkled clothes, and people walking with a tired stride.
As we exited nothing changed. The A380 was unloading more than be on one plane. Even as we joined a larger corridor, two more narrow tubes joined us. The slow, tired strides had their sound; rhythm and cadence much like a funeral dirge.
I walked in a world of my own. My mind drifted in and out. I was tired, not quite as tired as I was when I boarded the plane, but still very tired. I could hear a couple a ‘excuse me” sounds behind me. It registered even as it didn’t. All of a sudden a Singapore Airlines flight attendant came running by, at least as close to running as one can get when wearing a sarong kebaya. I recognized her as she had served me coffee on the flight. I had no idea what she was running to or from.
I watched her gently push through the crowd, as polite as a woman can be when she is on a mission. As she moved forward I realized she was looking right and left with each step. About thirty feet ahead of me she looked left and stopped so suddenly that two people she had just past bumped into her back. I had seen the person she was talking to, it was the passenger across the aisle from me.
The exchange was quick. The attendant made her introduction. You could see the sign of recognition on the passenger’s face. With a question and a concerned nod, the flight attendant handed her an iPad that had been left on seat 11C.
For one, the stride changed. It is hard to describe but these words fit; “A procession of joy and laughter! A grand entrance to the king’s palace!” (Psalm 45.15)
