Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Granny Air

I took a night bus from Sarajevo to Zagreb yesterday, so my sleeping was so and so. I had to wait nine hours for my flight in Zagreb, so I was feeling completely exhausted. But little did I know what kind of flight I was going to face…

At the gate we were only about five people waiting for the flight, so I thought wow, it’s going to be comfortable. But while the boarding time drew closer and finally passed I started to get anxious: no sign of the cabin crew.

How could I have known that I was actually about to board on the same flight with the Dutch Elderly Society, or whatever they call it (I don’t even know if the elderly have a society, but I would assume so). They came late, and they took over the plane.

How long does it take to board a plane-full of old people? Long. How many times can you get confused by which is actually your seat? Apparently many. How many people can get confused by their seats at the same time? Multiple. And what is the result? Chaos.

It was like the plane had been hijacked. I’ve never seen stewardesses so troubled. I felt like in the movie Con Air, only it would have been Granny Air.



Oh well, finally we were able to take off. Peaceful and quiet flight ahead of me, yea? Not so much for the cabin crew. You know what is so interesting about old people? They have lots of free time, and they like to enjoy it. Unfortunately sometimes it means people around them are running (I feel you, stewardesses!)

As that wasn’t confusing enough, suddenly I saw a woman at least twice my age winking at me. And not only once or twice, but three times. Not that I am not used to being winked at: sure people do it to me all the time despite their age or gender, but this time it caught me off guard.

How do you respond to an older woman winking at you?

Let me tell you how. First you look around, then you look back at her. You raise your hand and wave it a little. You smile. You might wink back.

And then you realize she was not really winking at you, but that you definitely have her attention now.

Oh well.

Eventually the flight was a huge pleasure for me, since the older lady next to me turned out to be me in fifty years. We started chatting over the meal about how she is a vegetarian, and ended up talking about our travels and adventures over the world. She has been all over: trekking in Tibet and Nepal, cruising on the Nile, adventuring in the Amazon… She had done everything that is on my list for things to do.

And she has had a Finnish boyfriend (at least that was my conclusion when after hearing I was from Finland she said ‘I love you’ in Finnish, giggled like teenager and added ‘that was a long time ago, when I was young and wild like you’). God bless her soul, she is a fisty woman!

Eventually we landed safe and sound. Guess what old people do when plane lands? They all yell “Jiihaaaa!” 

No kidding.


"The old are in a second childhood."
- Aristophanes

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