2 weeks ago, on a flight that originated from States back to Singapore, I took on the last leg. I had a passenger who looked alright from the top half of the body. When you see the bottom half, you'd know something wasn't right. Anyway to cut the long story short, the passenger was actually very sick. His wife, who was his traveling companion, said he was going back to his country (another SE Asian country) to die. He had travelled all the way from States, braved that journey, to be able to die in his homeland. During the few hours of flight, the dutiful wife took good care of him to ensure that he gets oxygen, feeds him water and sings to him. It was such a pitiful sight. The brave wife looked strong throughout, only to break down crying at one point. No crew could stand by to watch that. We were all too heartbroken.
As I shared this story with a crew on my last flight, she shared hers with me.
The flight was from Australia to SIN. On the flight, a Caucasian teenage daughter and her father were sitting at the bulkhead row. She looked cheerful throughout the flight, just doing her own things. The father looked pretty emotionless the whole time. After landing, the daughter turned on her phone and there was a look of shock on her face. (My colleague witnessed the whole thing because her crew seat was just in front of them.) she turned to her father and asked "Dad, is mum dying?!"
I also remember my landlady's story. It happened on her flight from Europe. A passenger passed away mid-flight. The crew tried to wake the elderly man up for his second meal only to realize his body had turned cold. The younger crew serving that zone were inconsolable because they were only serving him not so long ago. And there is a bond with every one of our pax. To receive his smile a few hours ago, and to be faced with a cold body now, is just too hard to take. Very unfortunately too, this man had no travelling companion.
I learn from all these that I must be more compassionate towards my passengers. I don't know what they're going through. There may be something behind the cold face - his wife could be dying, her husband could be on the verge of death, he could be in pain. We don't know. And so I will try to return a smile to every cold shoulder I get just to make things better.
