Flight Part II

 "No man is an island, entire of himself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main."  - John Donne

The real star of the flight is the blueberry juice (mustikkamehu).  We all had several glasses of it.  I’d never had blueberry juice before.  It seems a bit labor intensive to make.  But boy, is the end product worth it.  It’s not like American juice.  It’s a bit thicker.  More viscous.  The only comparison I could make is between apple juice and apple cider.  This is cider.  But smooth, and cool, and refreshing.  I think there might be something else in there.  Vanilla maybe, or clove.  But it’s subtle.  It compliments the blueberry rather than distracting from it.  I’m sure I sound crazy writing this much about blueberry juice.  But trust me – I’d be crazy not to.

On the flight I was struck by how much more socially conscious* the expectations felt.  Take sleep.  During the sleep period, you could recline your seat.  The seats on the flight reclined back surprisingly far.  And because everyone did it, everyone still had the same amount of space.  Nobody was uncomfortable, because we were all comfortable together.  Everyone also had to close their windowshade.  If somebody didn’t, a flight attendant was quick to come over and remind them to.  So wherever you were sitting it was dark and cozy.  Once the sleep time had ended, you were supposed to put your seat back up.  If you didn’t the flight attendant’s would make you do it.  From an American perspective I’m sure that might seem obnoxious, but I found it refreshing.  One person couldn’t ruin your flight.  One person couldn’t choose to be inconsiderate.  Nobody felt like they were unlucky with whom they were sitting next to or behind, because everyone followed the same rules.  We were all in the same boat.

* (originally I had used the word "collectivist" to describe the Finnish attitude, but have sense learned that they are actually quite individualistic.  It's just a different individualism than American individualism, and one that doesn't find its worth in choosing not to care about the well being of others.  So I've used "socially conscious" instead.)

Another example involved two parents sitting near us who had a young baby.  The baby could not have been more than eight months old.  Probably closer to six.  There was another passenger sitting next to the parents.  The flight attendants asked him if he would like to move to an open seat.  For some reason he declined.  So a few minutes later they just made him move.  He was fine.  He moved from one aisle seat to another aisle seat a few rows up.  And the flight attendants checked on the baby and the parents continuously.  And the parents now had more space.  They were the ones who had it the hardest on this flight anyway.  And I love that, again, one person didn’t get to decide that what he wanted was more important than what was in the best interest of other people. 

Let’s talk a bit about that baby.  I’ve been on flights before with babies.  I’ve been on flights with my babies, and I’ve been on flights when other people have their babies with them.  As a parent, you always feel very self-conscious about having the baby.  You always worry that the baby is going to make too much noise, or cry, or want to crawl and move, or get sick.  You feel like a huge inconvenience.  Then you get on the flight, and more often than not, people treat you like a huge inconvenience.  Some are nice about it.  Others can be pretty mean.  But most are just sort of passively aggressively annoyed.  They’re not mean, but they definitely feel like they got unlucky.  They’re worried that this will ruin their flight.  Because even if it’s not the worst thing ever, who actually wants so sit next to a baby, right?

Well, the people on this flight did.  Everyone around that baby took turns making faces at it, and playing peek-a-boo with it.  The baby loved our boys, and they loved when the baby would poke its head over the top of the row to giggle and laugh at them.  People who weren’t even sitting near us would walk down the aisle to steal a peek at the baby.  He was like the mascot of our section.  We all liked him and were all glad that he was here.  It’s like we all felt lucky that we got the seat near the baby.

There’s a lot out there written about collectivism versus individualism.  And I think people mostly conceptualize the difference in big terms – different attitudes about government and taxes; the bonds between neighbors and communities; ideas about justice and punishment.  Things like that.  But I think it affects more than just big ideas.  I think it affects your perspective.  I think that – with a socially conscious outlook – nobody would dream of thinking about sitting next to a baby on a flight as anything other than a good thing.  Like who wouldn’t want to sit next to a cute baby, right?

And with that attitude I think you start to empathize more readily -- and your own struggles don’t seem so bad.  Who is really having a harder time?  You whose kids are self-entertaining as you guzzle blueberry juice and struggle to decide which movie to watch?  Or the baby whose ears hurt, and has no idea how long this is going to last?  And the parents – on their feet constantly and entertaining the baby without getting to watch a movie, or enjoy a drink, or even talk to one another?  Who really has it harder?  And sure it’s obnoxious when the baby screams or cries, or spills, or has an accident.  But it’s way more inconvenient for the parents.  And I’m sure even more scary and inconvenient for the baby.

Anyway, it was just nice to be an environment where it felt like everyone wasn’t primarily focused on themselves.  In fact an environment that kind of discouraged and in some ways prevented people from being only focused on themselves.  But maybe I was just drunk on blueberry juice.

Once we awoke they served an omelet and hashbrown.  Amy really enjoyed it, but the time change and the airplane trip had soured my appetite.  Then it was only a couple of hours until our arrival in Helsinki, which we watched eagerly via the outside camera on our plane.  

We disembarked quickly and got to enjoy some of the modernist, brutalist architecture of the Helsinki airport that I think Finn Corrigan would love.

Morals of the story:  Fly Finnair, drink blueberry juice, and be grateful for the opportunity to sit next to the baby on the plane.

Hei Hei!