(Written on flight 2/5 – 2/6)

I’m on the 12:05 am Eva Air flight to Taipei. I’ve abandoned my middle seat between the 2 friends I’m traveling with to get an aisle seat back in the ghetto (seat 70D, the 2nd to last row in the plane). I delight that I have an entire middle row to myself when just before take off, a squatter steals the other aisle seat in my row. Dammit. I secretly send her angry vibes for devastating all dreams I had of sleeping stretched out on the plane. In reality, it’s not all that bad because I end up sleeping across 2 seats, allowing part of me to lie down.

Shortly after take off, I acquire the middle seat and zonk out despite dinner service buzzing about me. One of the many times I wake up, I find this sticker placed right next to my video monitor:

We feel reluctant to break your rest. Please contact our flight attendant for your repast. Thank you!

I’m oddly touched. While the translation could use a little help, the sentiment is sound. Which makes me wonder, why don’t American airlines do this? Is it a cultural difference or just shitty customer service on the U.S. end? Regardless of that answer, I slip back into slumber feeling taken care of by a simple sticker.

In the a.m. (or 10 hours later), I wake up to a nice warm meal of chicken congee with ginger and shitake mushrooms – which reminds me of my mom’s homecooking. Or my dad’s since he usually made the congee. Either way, it’s nice to be home.