The Confounding Little Things Of What It Means To Be Human – The Airplane Mode

The seemingly little and insignificant everyday aspects of life that humanity displays every so often have continued to confound even the world’s greatest brains; aspects that include the reasons behind kissing, blushing and even picking the nose.

Scientists have split the atom, put men on the moon and discovered the DNA of which humans are made, and yet there are key mysteries of human behavior which they have failed to fully explain.

A great example is the rush that is imminently displayed by humans, regardless of age, sex, race, creed, religion, or color, slightly before, and immediately after traveling Economy-class by air, especially on the long-haul flights.

When the crew arrive at the boarding gate, everybody rises from the chairs and is in a rush to board. The rush continues into the cabin where impatience is clearly visible when a passenger takes too long to deposit the bag into the overhead compartment; hence blocking the aisle.

Then when all are seated, everything cools off. No one is in a rush any more: the sound sleepers suddenly slumber peacefully right through the engine noise, the readers sink into the world of their heroes as they continue reading their books from where they left off just before the rush, others watch videos or listen to audios, while others just carry the bored stare throughout the flight, meaning that they have completely zoned out and their wandering eyes have happened to stop on you. The only interruption to the routine being, some turbulence here and there, visits to the lavatories now and then, or a child crying every so often.

All become equal, even friendly, brotherly, sisterly, and courteous; possibly subdued by the reality of the helplessness of being in a giant contraption over 30,000 feet above the ground; and the constant reminder, by a small voice at the back of the mind, of everything that can go wrong.

Then towards the end of the flight, and immediately upon the plane touching the ground, the enigmatic rush trait and agitation suddenly pops up again. The humanity that was dormant, suddenly arises from the state of hibernation. Even before the plane has come to a complete stop, sounds of phones being hurriedly switched on and seat belts aggressively clicking open rent the air.

With impatience inscribed all over their faces, the economy-class humanity rises and squeezes along the aisle, swiftly but aggressively open overhead compartments to pop out their bags, and anxiously wait to shoot out once the plane doors are “disarmed and cross-checked”, whatever that means; and the more equal first-class mortals have alighted.

Once out, the restless sea of humanity that was surprisingly calm and composed in the air is now at a near run trying to outdo each other towards the exit from the airport; seeming like they are running away from the plane that made them feel so helpless a few minutes before.

Arising from this example, it is confusing that large amounts of effort have been expended trying to get to the bottom of what it means to be human; and yet there are so many traits that remain enigmatic, ranging from the sublime, such as dreaming, to the ridiculous, such as blushing and nose-picking.

And the only conclusion can only be that there is nothing more fascinating than us, the human race.