The middle seat

THE MIDDLE SEAT

When you’re the last person to board the plane, it’s easy to get discouraged. Your carry-on is never going to fit, so you’ll have to check it. You’re going to be wedged between two passengers in the middle seat.

On an airplane, it’s easy to compare yourself to the person beside you. They have the aisle seat. Or the other person because they have the window seat. (I like to have the window seat over the wings, so if the wing breaks off or the engine catches on fire, I’ll be the first to know. I could make a video. It would be epic.)

But it’s just so easy to compare my situation to the person’s beside me: who boarded first and who is in first class.

But another option exists. I can find my inner pessimist and put him to work. Not having air travel is terrible. I could be in a car. Or I could be on a train or even be riding a saddle. Ever been on an old train? It’s slow, smelly, and hot. Riding on a saddle is even smellier!

But I can find that “other seat” in my mind….on a car, or a train, or maybe even a saddle. It’s a great day to compare to another bad, alternate reality. I can feel the magic of being transported at just under the speed of sound while watching “The Last Dance” on the Netflix app on my phone with noise-cancelling headphones.

Holy cow, this middle seat is amazing.

thankfulness. comparison. #jblikeaking

Image: @shawnanggg