Economy or Business Class?
By Anika
It was a chilly day in November. The wind blew hard on the airplane window next to me as I unfolded the gloomy bluish blanket by my feet. I curled my legs under the blanket. The itchy wool against my skin felt like tiny insects crawling up my legs. I was cold but the itchy blanket didn’t exactly help warm me up.
I was finally there. Business class had come at last! It was my first time riding a higher class. My tummy did a flip-flop, but not because I was nervous but because I was so excited. It was like the time I was in line at the biggest roller coaster in Disney Land. I was so excited.
“Settle down Anika,” my dad told me.
I tried to calm down so I opened my book to read. I quickly slammed it shut though. How could I read when I had a whole Business class in front of me? I thought.
I stretched out my legs in front of me. “There is so much room!” I thought. “It’s so different.”
My thoughts were interrupted by the friendly flight attendant pushing the heavy cart down the crowded plane. It made a creaky sound as she stopped by us. She handed me a menu and then asked me what I wanted to drink.
“Water’s fine,” I told her in my most adultish voice.
The flight attendant nodded and filled a glass (can you believe it?) of water and laid it on my tray table in front of me.
“Thank you!” I said.
She also gave me a snack. Now usually I get trail mix in a bag but this? This was freshly salted nuts in a pearly non chipped bowl!!! As soon as she was out of my sight my mouth dropped open. I usually get plastic cups and now I got a glass?! This was a huge change. Even the bowl was a change. Wow I thought to myself.
After eating my nuts and drinking my water, I opened my menu to see what was for dinner. Sushi, casserole, chicken and salad were for dinner. I asked my dad if I could have the chicken.
He said, “We’ll get whatever’s left,” “we are S.A.’s remember?”
I nodded but really my mind was confused. S.A.’s? Seats available. Oh yeah. How dumb I thought to myself. I want a good meal too.
I few hours later, (Thanks to the stupid people who bought tickets) I was stuck with weird sushi’s I had never seen before.
On my tray there was: tuna, egg roll, salmon, cucumber roll, and TONS of sushi’s I had no idea what the names were!
My eyes were now fixed on the tuna in front of me. I wrinkled my nose. Let me clarify this. It was completely, absolutely, GROSS! The liquid oozing out of the pink fish. The rice probably wet by now.
“Eeew, that is gross.” I thought.
I turned to my dad, my brown pony tail flicking behind me.
“Do I have to eat this?” I asked him pointing to the tuna.
I stared at him with my please-don’t-make-me-eat-it eyes.
“Eat a bit,” He told me. “Try it. It is good.”
“But…” my voice trailed off.
I stared at the tuna calling my name (I guess…). “I can’t do it. It is too gross.” I thought.
“I thought you like sushi?” my dad asked me looking a bit confused.
“Yeah, I do but only the regular kind. This is like sushi I have never seen in my life. It’s just some weird fish that I have never seen before!” My voice had gotten louder than when I had started the sentence.
“Oh.” My dad said, his voice softening. “Okay. But can you at least take a small bite? I don’t want you to starve to death because I have no snacks.”
I nodded, plucking the pink sour tuna off with my index finger. I gobbled the tuna down my mouth, finishing it with a drink of water.
“This is the worst meal ever.” I thought to myself. Not only was it gross, but it left me with a hungry stomach. Everything was disgusting. My whole meal was spread out in front of me. Bad side dish, terrible main dish and worst of all no double fudge chocolate brownie!! Yeah, I got ice-cream, but I always do because my mom is a flight attendant so I always get good stuff from her work friends who are working the flight. There was no change there.
My dad told me to forget about dinner and watch TV. I turned on the TV and watched it for about 10 minutes. I got tired of watching the Disney Channel so I asked my dad if I could see my mom who was sitting in Economy with my little brother.
He said if I hurry I could go. I smiled and quickly past the black currents that separated Business from Economy.
Economy was silent. Almost everyone was asleep. A few people were awake watching TV. The lights were dimmed. Nobody moved. Nobody breathed. I could only hear myself breathing. In and out. In and out.
When I reached my mom’s seat, my brother, Kai was asleep. My mom was watching Get Smart. I tapped her on the shoulder and she turned to me.
I made a pouty face. My mom frowned for a moment looking confused and reached into her seat pocket like she finally had figured out why I was so upset and pulled out her prize position.
DOUBLE CHOCOLATE FUDGE BROWNIE!!!
I smiled, thanked, and hugged her. I took the brownie and left back to my seat. After I had eaten every single crumb of the brownie, I took a small rest and watched Get Smart. It was funny, interesting but a little hard to understand. When Get Smart was over, we landed in Seattle, Washington.
I felt tired but I had also learned lesson. Things are not always perfect and sometimes simpler things like the Economy class brownie are better than the fancy Business class salted nuts and ice-cream.
I left the Boeing 7-7-7 knowing that next time I would probably choose Economy class.