Elderly Woman Denied Business Class Seat Until a Stranger Sees a Photo from Her Purse — Story of the Day

To be nearer to her son, an impoverished elderly mother chose to travel in business class. But until the other passengers realised who she really was, they rejected her.

Rhea was embarrassed. The elderly woman had boarded the first aircraft to depart the airport that morning and was seated in business class, which is where the wealthy people stayed.

No one looked at her when she walked into the cabin, but as soon as she found her seat and sat down, people’s attention was drawn to her. She stood out like a sore thumb, and that was the obvious reason.
Although Rhea’s old, worn-out clothes were her best, they didn’t appear as good as the other men and women in the room, who were all dressed in elegant, pricey clothing.

When she sat down, the man next to her did not immediately notice her because he had his face fully covered by a newspaper. After putting the problem down, he cringed at her appearance and turned to face a flight attendant.

He pointed at Rhea and said, “What is this?”

After confirming the woman’s seat number, the flight attendant turned to face the man and said, “This passenger took a seat according to the ticket she paid for,” although she appeared somewhat embarrassed by the man’s tone.

Rhea’s presence made the man appear as though he would throw up at any moment, and before he could say anything more, he covered his nose with a clean handkerchief. He said, “I don’t know what’s on her ticket, but I bought a seat in business class to get away from people like her, now it just feels like I’m in a cheap alley with homeless people.”

Many people in the cabin had taken notice of the altercation, and some appeared to be sympathetic to the man. One chubby woman piped up, wearing jewellery from head to foot.

She replied, “I would purchase an economy class ticket if I wanted to travel with such riff-raff,” and the other passengers murmured in agreement.

The attendant attempted to stop the squabble that soon ensued after the murmur took on a life of its own, but the wealthy people would not listen and the woman was forced to leave.

One man remarked, “Can’t you see she doesn’t belong here?”

“Has this airline dropped this low? Another person questioned, “How can someone like that afford the bill?”

The man next to Rhea stated, “We want her gone and we want a formal apology for allowing us to come into contact with such filth,”

In order to get what they wanted, he and a few other passengers stood up and refused to sit down. Rhea sat there while they trampled over her dignity and argued.

She continued saying under her breath, “I’m okay, this too shall pass,” as if it were a mantra.

Nevertheless, she heard their remarks about her, and the fact that people could be so vicious to her severely wounded her. Before she realised it, her slightly wrinkled cheeks were streaming with tears of sadness.

Rhea thought, “Perhaps I’ll just leave,” and began to fumble with her belongings.

She slipped as she got up to leave, and instead of catching her as his instinct would have caused him to, the man next to her recoiled as though he didn’t want to get covered in dirt.

Rhea accidentally spilt the contents of her handbag after falling to her knees. Knowing that she was the centre of attention in the cabin, she began gathering her belongings with shaking hands.
An elegantly attired elderly woman who had been soundly asleep until the disturbance awakened her rose from her chair and also knelt down to assist Rhea.

The passengers gazed in disbelief as one of them treated Rhea like a human, and the cabin fell silent at that point. A small boy’s passport photo was the first item the woman picked up.

Rhea muttered, “Thank you very much,” as she took it from her.

She was still on her knees when she said, “This is my son,” grinning tearfully. “He is the pilot of this plane.”

The wealthy elderly woman remarked, “He must have matured into a handsome young man.”

“How could I be aware? Because I lacked the resources to care for him, I had to place him for adoption when he was just five years old. The cabin was hushed as she talked, tears streaming from her eyes.

“Despite searching for him for years, I haven’t been successful in finding him. I started going from airport to airport in search of him after learning that he had recently become a pilot. I found him today, but taking this flight was the only way I could get near him.”

After glancing up at the others, the majority of whom ashamed turned away, Rhea went on.

“I apologise for causing any discomfort, but I saved up my money in order to have this opportunity because I wanted to be as close to my son as possible. Since I’ve never flown before and the business class is closer to him, I felt it would be a wonderful birthday present for me.

By the time she concluded her story, many of the passengers were in tears. After a while, Rhea stood up and followed the flight attendants, who were determined to show her her son.

She resisted their pressure and questioned, “What if he doesn’t want to see me?” “What if he hates me for abandoning him?” The man seated next to him, who had previously opposed her, spoke before the flight attendant could.

After saying, “You had no choice, I believe he will understand that,” he hurried back behind his newspaper. And he felt embarrassed. To finally meet her son, Rhea departed with the flight attendant.

After a while, the plane heard a man’s voice. “This is the captain speaking… there is a special person flying on this plane — my mum, and it’s her birthday today.”

The elderly woman was cheered by everyone, and some who had previously made fun of her expressed regret for their error. The pilot, Joseph, eventually reunited with his mother once the jet touched down, and after years of separation, Rhea embraced her son once more.

What did this narrative teach us?

Decide to show kindness. Even though the woman had done nothing, they might have been able to get her to leave the cabin when the man next to Rhea began to yell for her to do so. Another elderly woman was the only one who did not follow their lead. She could have easily joined the arrogant travellers, but instead she stood up for Rhea, and her choice made all the difference.
Never give up. Rhea searched for her son for years without finding him, but that didn’t stop her. She persisted in her search and was prepared to spend all of her hard-earned money on a pricey business class journey in order to meet him. She was able to meet him since her sacrifices and tenacity paid off in the end.

Talk to your friends about this article. It could inspire them and make their day.