Seat 31 to Paris
I thought I had booked different seats. But when I checked in I saw that we had been assigned the last seats of the plane. I asked my partner what she thinks about it, she said it would be fine. There was little I could do. My only option was to choose different seats, but that would mean we could not all sit together. It was pretty a matter of mental preparation. In the end we all sat together in the last row. I sat at the aisle, as always, and there was no one sitting next to me. That made me feel I had more space. I thought that there would be more turbulence back there as I believed that the tailwind shakes the plane disproportionally at the back. I was sure it was the case. I even took a nausea pill that thought it contained a substance called Dramamine. I was not sure what that is, but I have read somewhere that it is an active substance in these nausea pills. The pills I took contained only ginger. Does knowing this cancel the placebo effect? I think it partially does, though expectation still persists.
The only issue at the backseats was the people waiting in queue to use the restroom. But it was not much of an issue at the end, or at least it was not a continuous issue. I am not sure if there was a pattern when people visited the restroom. My mind was trying to convince me there was.
On the plane many people were reading books. On paper. They were French. I loved seeing them. Both the readers and the pages, illuminated by the plane's overhead lights.
One hour before landing, I was halfway through the book Transcription by Ben Lerner. The rest of the family were occupying all the space in row 31, my son was sleeping in my seat and the empty seat next to me, and I was standing. For a long time I sat at the edge of the seat. A lady was waiting to use the restroom. I noticed she was waiting too long. I glanced her way a couple of times. And toward the restroom. I was convinced that the toilet door that was showing "occupied" was not properly shut. It happens at home when the kids lock the door, but the latch is not aligned. The door appears locked but is not fully closed. When they try to shut it, it does not catch. I thought the same had happened here, and I told the woman.
People get confused when they are told something that contradicts their expectations. "But it says occupied" she said. Perhaps she also felt that too much time had passed without anyone exiting. One person had left, and she was next. No one had entered afterward. Still, she seemed uncertain, and hesitant to try the door. I was not sure either. But I was not shy about pulling the door to check if it would open, despite the risk of finding someone inside. For some reason I was sure there wasn't anyone inside. She laughed and thanked me. Both when she entered and when she exited.