Last flight

     The plane ride from Chicago to Beijing was to be a twelve hour flight. I loved flying, so this was to be no problem. Except for one little problem: Our delegation had not ordered vegetarian meals for the four vegetarians in our group...
     At first I was a little panicky; I had only eaten a small fruit salad in the Chicago airport, as I had expected full meals and snacks on the plane ride. It took a while, but some vegetarian options were made available and we carried forth.
     The plane ride itself was awkward: I was situated inside a middle section, and I made frequent rises to stretch my legs.
     To fight off the possibility of jet-lag, I kept myself awake through the flight, only taking short naps here and there.
     The problem? I was wearing my hoodie, had it zipped up to my chin, the hood pulled over my head, curled up into a blanket, and I was shivering the entire ride. See, I am the type of person who is cold beneath 85F (29C). And the plane was considerably chilly.
     In general, it was a very uncomfortable ride for me. Now that I am looking back, I realize it was a miserable twelve hours for me. I just wanted to be in China--immediately.
     But it all wasn't too terrible: one event permeated my mind. (Yes, this is another bathroom story). There were only four restrooms available for the economy class, which meant there was always at least one person would be standing outside, waiting.
     During one of the times I stood outside the restroom, a middle-aged Chinese man stood behind me. (The bathrooms were not gender specific). Soon, a college-aged American boy also stood with us. Due to the lack of space, we were clustered into this awkward group, and not a line.
     The guy had asked about why I was going and what group I was with (our burgundy People to People polo's and khaki pants allowed us to notably stick out).  He and I talked for a few minutes, while we waited.
      Finally, the restroom opened up and I went forth, finished my business, and came back out.  As I left, I noticed that the Chinese man motioned for the boy to go first. The boy declined, saying "But you were here first." Again, the man nodded for the boy to go first. Another decline. This time the man guided the boy forward, gently pushing his back, toward the restroom. With a loud sigh, the boy said "Okay, okay!" and went into the restroom.
     I smiled and nodded at the man before returning to my seat. The image stayed with me throughout the plane ride.