A poor old woman decided to fly business class to get closer to her son. However, she faced rejection from passengers on board until they discovered her true identity.<\/p>\n
Rhea felt self-conscious. The old woman had gotten on the first plane to leave the airport that morning, and she sat in a seat in business class where the well-to-do folks stayed.<\/p>\n
As she entered the cabin, nobody spared her a glance, but when she located her seat and sat, eyes turned towards her. The reason was simple; she stood out like a sore thumb.<\/p>\n
Where the other men and women present all wore fancy and expensive-looking clothes, Rhea wore her old, broken-in clothes \u2014 it was her best, but it looked drab compared to what the others were wearing.<\/p>\n
The man next to her had his face completely buried in a newspaper when she sat down, so he did not quickly notice her. When he put down the issue, he looked to his side and winced at her appearance, then he signaled a flight attendant.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is this?\u201d he asked, pointing to Rhea.<\/p>\n
The flight attendant looked a bit mortified at the man\u2019s tone, but after verifying the woman\u2019s seat number, she faced the man and replied, \u201cThis passenger took a seat according to the ticket she paid for.\u201d<\/p>\n
The man looked like he would vomit at any minute because of Rhea\u2019s presence, and before he even proceeded to talk, he unfolded a pristine handkerchief and used it to cover his nose. Then he said, \u201cI don\u2019t know what\u2019s on her ticket, but I bought a seat in business class to get away from people like her, now it just feels like I\u2019m in a cheap alley with homeless people.\u201d<\/p>\n
The altercation had gotten the attention of many in the cabin, and some seemed to be in support of the man. One plump woman bedecked from her head to her feet in jewelry piped up.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I wanted to fly with such riff-raff, I would buy an economy class ticket,\u201d she said, and a murmur of agreement moved through the passengers.<\/p>\n
The murmur quickly took on a life of its own and soon led to a squabble the attendant tried to quell, but the rich folks would not hear of it \u2014 the woman had to go.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan\u2019t you see she doesn\u2019t belong here?\u201d one man said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs this how low this airline has fallen? How can such a person afford the bill?\u201d another asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want her gone and we want a formal apology for allowing us to come into contact with such filth,\u201d the man beside Rhea said.<\/p>\n
He and a few other passengers were on their feet and refused to sit until they got what they wanted. Rhea sat there, listening to them arguing and trampling all over her dignity.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m okay, this too shall pass,\u201d she kept repeating under her breath like a mantra.<\/p>\n
Still, she heard how they spoke of her, and it hurt her very deeply that people could be so cruel. Before she knew it, sad tears cascaded down her slightly wrinkled cheeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cPerhaps I\u2019ll just leave,\u201d Rhea thought, then started to gather her things with shaky hands.<\/p>\n
As she stood up to go, she stumbled, and rather than catch her as instinct should have made him, the man beside her flinched away as if to avoid getting splattered with mud.<\/p>\n
Rhea fell to her knees and inadvertently spilled the contents of her purse. She started to collect her things with trembling hands, knowing she was the focus of everyone in the cabin.<\/p>\n
An expensively dressed old lady who had been sleeping peacefully until the ruckus woke her got up from her seat and also went down on her knees to help Rhea.<\/p>\n
At that, the cabin went silent, and the passengers stared dumbfounded as one of them treated Rhea like a human. The first thing the woman picked up was a passport photograph of a little boy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you very much,\u201d Rhea whispered as she collected it from her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is my son,\u201d she said with a teary smile, still on her knees. \u201cHe is the pilot of this plane.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe must have grown up to become a handsome young man,\u201d the rich old woman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow could I know? I had to give him up for adoption when he was just five because I had no means to take care of him.\u201d As she spoke, tears fell from her eyes, and the cabin remained silent.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been looking for him for years but I\u2019ve not been able to find him. Recently, I found out he became a pilot so I started to go from airport to airport looking for him. Today I found him but the only way I could get close to him was by boarding this flight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rhea looked up at the people around, most of whom averted their eyes shamefully, then she continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry for making you all feel uncomfortable but I just wanted to be as close to my son as possible which is why I saved up my money to get this chance. The business class is closer to him and I\u2019ve never flown before so I thought it would make a great birthday gift for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
The passengers listened to her story, and by the time she stopped talking, many were crying. Rhea got up eventually and went with the flight attendants, who were hell-bent on introducing her to her son.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if he doesn\u2019t want to see me?\u201d she asked, resisting their urging. \u201cWhat if he hates me for abandoning him?\u201d Before the flight attendant could speak, the man who had been against her sitting beside him beat her to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou had no choice, I believe he will understand that,\u201d he said before quickly diving behind his newspaper again. He was also ashamed. Rhea left with the flight attendant to finally meet her son.<\/p>\n
After some time, a man\u2019s voice was heard on the plane. \u201cThis is the captain speaking\u2026 there is a special person flying on this plane \u2014 my mom, and it\u2019s her birthday today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone applauded the old lady, and those who had ridiculed her before apologized for their mistake. When the plane landed, the pilot, whose name was Joseph, met up with his mother, and finally, after many years of estrangement, Rhea held her son again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A poor old woman decided to fly business class to get closer to her son. However, she faced rejection from passengers on board until they discovered her… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n