Delay at LAX

It was 7:45 pm, Los Angeles Airport; 75 rows of us (each row had 10 seats in the main cabin) were supposed to board the plane to Auckland, New Zealand in 45 minutes. An announcement over the PA system said the toilets were stuffed up and didn’t work. It would be 3 hours before they could either un-stuff them or get a different plane.

Two men got angry – vociferously so, many groaned (including me, with the eye-roll bit added for good measure), many did some version of collapsing inward, and the children kept running around as if nothing had happened. There was one man sitting across from me with a semi-amused smile on his face. One announcement, a broad spectrum of reactions – proving once again that it is not what happens that determines reactions. Each person seemingly defaulted to their normal pattern of behavior.

I immediately did the Truth Process from the More To Life program and concluded that I really did not want to spend the next 14+ hours with 600-700 people on a plane which did not have working toilets – the images in my head were unsanitary at best – at worst, I grossed out even myself (as the eldest of 8 children, I am truly hard to gross out).

I also realized I was grateful the airline was willing to take the measures needed for our welfare, regardless of the heat that came their way from the disgruntled passengers – which would probably be a lot less heat than if they flew the stuffed-up-toilet-airplane.

The smiley-guy continued to interest me, as the same smile never left his face. My imagination deduced that he was either Buddha-like or not right in the head. The 3 hours turned into almost 6 hours, and he was still half-smiling. In line during Customs, 15 hours later – same smile. He was my mind’s entertainment for that flight.