Travel Companions

This is the sight I dread the most when I travel. Knowing my luck, I have no difficulty finding my seat on the flight even if I do not have my boarding card. I just have to close my eyes and follow the sound till it cannot grow any louder. Then I open my eyes and yippee I am in the seat right next to someone howling his (or her) guts out. What is worse is that this kid – the one crying and traveling next to me – will not stop until I have started running along the tarmac once they let me out of the plane.It is a bit like I have my own version of Newton’s Law. The First Law of Travel that says, “A howling kid will always be seated right next to you – when the plane is full.” There is the Second Law of Travel that I have coined. “A howling fellow passenger will continue to howl until the plane has reached its destination.” Newton has three laws of motion. So do I. The Third Law of Travel says, “The howling fellow passenger is most likely to cry louder if you are feeling sleepy.”Once I even gave the howling kid the chocolates I had kept for myself. The shameless fellow ate the chocolates amid loud sobs and then just resumed crying. The doting parents just looked at me and said, “He just doesn’t like traveling with strangers.” I tried explaining to them that the kid was right. They should not have picked up just any kid at random to accompany them. The mother just rolled her eyes and said to me, “We ARE his parents. You are the stranger that is upsetting him.”Yeah yeah yeah… I know what all you unreasonable folks will say. We were all kids once. Be patient. Be nice to them. They represent the future. Well, if that howling piece of childhood is in any way representative of the future, it would be my turn to cry.——————Image Courtesy: Creative Donkey