My First Solo Flight

Excuse me sir, could you please not take up the entire flipping seat?

Allow me to set the scene for you: the sun peeking up over the horizon, the metal detectors beeping in the background, and little middle-school me, ready to embark on her first adventure into the great unknown- Florida.

I had plenty of movies downloaded, and was rushing to try to get the second Hunger Games movie on my iPad; because I had to perfect my Katniss Everdeen Halloween costume. I also had an entire bag of Skittles (all of which I ate before I even landed in Florida) and a Coca-Cola, even though it was literally seven o'clock in the morning. Of course, I made the detrimental mistake of forgetting gum, which would leave my ears ringing for the next day and a half, but that's another story.

I gave my mom a tearful hug and climbed onto the plane, the flight attendants helping tiny me lift my suitcase into the overhead compartment. I settled into my window seat for the 3-or-so hour flight ahead, waiting for the rest of the plane to fill up. As it did, the two seats next to mine were taken by two adult men. The one sitting right next to me struck me as a businessman-type, possibly due to the literal briefcase he was carrying. And the one on the aisle seat was an older man who put earbuds in and was snoring before the plane even took off.

And before you start making any assumptions- no, neither of the men said a word to me the entire flight, this is not that kind of story. The problems were not caused purposefully by either of the men, but more-so caused by the size of the man next to me.

He. Was. So. Tall.

I mean, I felt that there was plenty of leg room on the plane, but he was probably leaving a one star review because he was just crammed into the seat. The only way that poor man could fit his legs into the seat was if he spread them apart so one knee was touching an armrest on either side of his middle seat.

Cut to me, smooshed against the window, trying not to draw attention to myself because I was in 8th grade and I didn't want anyone to try and talk to me. As the plane took off, I sent out a silent prayer that I would not have to pee during this flight. Thankfully, the odds were in my favor (and we're back to The Hunger Games again) and the whole flight passed without any major problems. As the plane started to descend in Ft. Myers airport, I shoved at least 20 Skittles in my mouth in a futile attempt to keep the pressure from making my ears pop.

I was in the back of the plane, so I was forced to wait for everyone else to exit before I could head out into the lobby to meet up with my friend and her dad. They were waiting right outside the gate as I came out, and the very tall businessman rushed past me, probably off on his way to a meeting, judging by his collared shirt and tie. That was the last time I ever saw him, and thankfully, my most recent flight to Florida was a little bit less cramped.

Thank you for reading! If you have any questions, comments, feedback, or just want to chat, you can email me at naturaladventuresblog@gmail.com , or use the chat bar in the bottom right corner of the website.