4F was my window seat yesterday on a flight to LAX.
Seated forward in 3F was a toddler, her mother sat beside her with a nursing infant in her arms.
Stowed in the tiny foot space directly underneath me, belonging to 5F, was an eight-month-old Samoyed puppy. He was letting everyone know he wanted out of his cage. Now.
It had all the makings of a long afternoon, perhaps the dreaded flight through hell.
Seated beside me was an attractive Chinese National, returning from her job in St. Paul to see her father in Bejing. We needed no language as we looked at each other, sighed and started laughing out loud at our luck. We had paid extra to get these seats.
As we settled in, she dug deep into a huge leather carry-on bag and, after a moment or two, produced a shiny orange tangerine. Then she dug around again, and produced another. It was for me.
As we sat together peeling those juicy, fragrant tangerines, her simple act of friendship seemed to change everything.
The baby slept, the toddler watched a movie and took instructions from her parents, and the puppy spent the entire flight, happy on Mommy's lap.
We reached LA without any turbulence just in time to watch an orange and blue sunset settle peacefully over the coast.
Great seats.
