Young Traveler Christian Ang | Guest Writer
| Published 12/12/03
Graphic By: Andrew Kinback
Ever since I was a child I have been doing things on my own. Being the
only child in the family has some advantages and disadvantages. One
distinct advantage is you never have to share anything with your
siblings and being the priority whenever I wanted the attention. One big
disadvantage was being alone and having no one your age to spend time
with.
Most kids played hide and seek with their brothers and sisters. I had to
entertain myself with my imagination. My parents were always busy
working, and I still remember the first time they left me home alone by
myself. I was in kindergarten and I remember my mom yelling to me before
she walked out of the door. She told me they were going to be gone for
an hour or so and they would be back shortly. I did not mind being
alone, because "He-Man," my favorite cartoon, was on.
Ever since I was a child I thought I could do everything on my own, but
I did not fully realize my limitations until second or third grade. My
dad's father had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and his
condition was getting worse. It looked like he would not live any longer
than a month. My parents decided to go to California to see my
grandfather, leaving me with my Aunt Emma. I would meet them a week
later after I got special permission from my school to leave, but I had
to fly there alone. My parents were scared at first, but I reassumed
them. I been traveling so much with my parents in the past, I could
recognize most of the airports all of the country.
I was very excited and scared to venture off by myself. The day I had my
flight scheduled I had to wake up very early, and my Uncle Eddie offered
to take me to the Buffalo Airport. I did not know him very well, and the
whole car ride was silent. The only time we spoke was when he asked me
about school and my grades. We arrived at the airport early.
My uncle insisted we should get breakfast before my flight, and I
agreed. There was a McDonald's across the street from the airport. I
ordered a sausage McMuffin while my uncle sat across from me, sipping
his coffee very slowly and read sports page in the newspaper. Before we
knew it I was running late, and we hurried back to the airport to my
gate.
The bay doors were just about to close when we got there. I still
remember the flight attendant's face when she saw me walk onto the plane
by myself. She was shocked that I was flying alone and she called me
"adorable and cute." I did not really understand what that meant, and I
said, "Thanks."
When I got to my seat, I had to sit next to some old guy whole took up a
lot of space. Since he was sitting in the middle seat, I had to wait for
him to get up, because I had the seat next to the window.
I always had the window seat on flights. I loved looking at the sky when
I was so high up in the air, because everything below looks so small.
When I was a kid I hated being so small, and I liked how big things on
earth looked so small. Also my mother told me that heaven was in the
clouds; so I thought every time I flew, I could visit heaven without
dying.
When we took off I popped in my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle's cassette
in to my walkman and relaxed and waited to be served a drink. At home, I
was never allowed to have soda. Since my parents, were not around I
decided to order a Coke.
The old man looked at me when I was sipping my Coke and said, "Isn't it
a little too early to be drinking caffeine?"
I looked at him and said, "What is caffeine?"
He explained what caffeine was and I politely said, "Thanks for teaching
me something new." My connection flight was headed to Detroit, and
before I knew we were there.
Before we entered our gate, the flight attendant named out all of the
connecting gates and times. I could not find my gate and flight, because
she was talking so fast. I told myself I could find it on my own,
because I had two hours in between to kill.
When I got out of the plane and out of the platform I was in awe of how
big the airport was. I looked at my flight ticket, and it said I was
heading to Las Vegas, Nev. I walked up to the flight screen and found
the gate specified. I hopped on one of the moving walkways (they are
like escalators but flat on the around) and started waking really fast.
I played on the walkway to kill time for about thirty or so minutes
until I was yelled at by a security guard.
Boarding was coming up, and I got to my gate. I arrived kind of late,
and it seemed to me I was the last one boarding. The Captain was ready
to take off, so the flight attendant grabbed my arm. They were in such a
hurry to let me get on board that they did not get to check my boarding
pass before I went on the plane. When I finally gave him my boarding
pass, his eyes became so big I could have shined them.
He told me to get up and said, "You know you are on the wrong flight,
kid?"
I said, "Oh I am".
He said, "You are going to Las Vegas on your return flight. You are
suppose to be going to San Jose."
"Opps, I didn't know," I apologized.
He face got red and he clenched his fist trying to hold back his
frustration. He had to go to the cockpit to tell the Captain they would
have to delay take off so I could get off the plane. Then the flight
attendant told me my flight to San Jose was already boarding, and I
would be lucky if I made it. He took me out of the plane and gave me to
another flight attendant, who was supposed to get me to the right
flight. She walked up to me and said, "Sweetheart, we need to hurry.
Okay?"
I did not mind if I did miss my flight. I like being by myself and being
able to do as I pleased. Although I had no choice, because she was
holding my hand tightly and was walking very fast. As she dragged me
from one gate to another, people were staring at us. The way she was
dragging me looked like I got caught shoplifting and she was escorting
me to the police.
When we finally got to the gate, the door to the platform was already
closed, and they had to open it just for me.
I thanked the flight
attendant. She told me, "You have to be more careful the next time you
fly alone." I agreed.
When I got in to San Jose, my father and uncle were ready to pick me up.
They asked me if I had any troubles on the flight, I told them no. I did
not want them to worry about it. I didn't want to thing of my flight
troubles the next time I wanted to something on my own.
Flying across the country by alone at a very young age made me realize
something. Just because I thought I could handle everything on my own, I
still needed help. I realize I was always independent, but everyone
needs help. Being independent does not mean refusing help when times get
rough.
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Christian Ang is a new writer for Whim. We hope he writes more quality articles for us!
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