I spend so much time in and around.. absorbed in.. man-made structures. I can forget the natural world, at least temporarily. So, it’s nice to have reminders. (picture taken in Tokyo, March 2007, because I don’t have any photos of wilting roses. And it seems fitting for the story)
There’s a peg on each seat on Etihad aircraft, to the left of the in-flight entertainment screen – a knob that you can twist and pull out a little. Many people I think don’t realize (or don’t care) what it’s actually for (to hang jackets, sweaters etc). I flew to Lahore yesterday, and there was a woman sitting in the very last row, mid-section. She had hung up a string of ever-so-slightly-wilting red roses on this peg, a dozen or so. I thought maybe the family came from a wedding or party and the flowers a souvenir. Or that she just really liked flowers.
Turns out they were for her son, in the adjacent seat, to smell – to help with his nausea during the flight. I don’t know if it was more of a therapeutic reassurance, or if smelling red roses really relieves air sickness. Whatever the reason, it was so lovely! And, it prettied-up the back of the cabin nicely. Almost makes me want to buy fresh bunches of flowers for the magazine racks, or to put on random seats before the pax board!
When everyone disembarked there was a little fluster of petals left on the aisle floor. Aww.
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