but not so much that I couldn’t hear her next words: “There’s an Arab in First Class.”
She said the word as if it felt funny on her tongue—like she had never said the word aloud before. “I know! You’d think the government would have banned them from flying by now,” she clucked. “After what they did, they should feel lucky we even let them stay in our country.”
The plane bumped along in preparation of takeoff. I held the top of a headrest to keep my balance and ground down on the back of my molars. “Ma’am,” I said more sternly. “It’s time to end your call.”
She waved her hand at me again and continued to ignore my instructions. “At least she’s not wearing one of those headscarves,” she spoke into the phone. “They make me so uncomfortable.”
The annoyance I’d experienced before quickly flipped to a boiling rage. I reached for the woman’s cellphone and aggressively yanked it out of her hand. My fingers mashed against the screen to end the call and I converted the device to airplane mode.
The seated woman stared up at me, dumbstruck. I set a saccharine smile to my lips and held the silenced phone out to her.
She grabbed one end of her phone, but I maintained a firm grip at its other end.
“The passenger about whom you’re speaking so disparagingly is an American, just like you and me,” I snapped. “Her grandparents immigrated from Lebanon in the 1910s. When did your family get here?”
I abruptly released my hold on the phone and the inertia caused the seated woman to jerk back in her seat as she regained possession of her cellphone.
I leaned over the still-startled woman and showed her my teeth. “Make sure your seatbelt is securely fastened, ma’am. We’ll be taking off shortly.”
I turned on my heel and marched down the rest of the center aisle. I didn’t wait for the woman’s reaction or the reaction of any of the other passengers within earshot. My heart was lodged in my throat and my legs felt unstable as I wobbled towards the back of the plane. I had to grip the tops of passengers’ seats to keep myself steady.
I’d never been rude to a passenger before. Regardless of the blatant disrespect or disregard I might encounter, my job was to keep our passengers safe and comfortable. Nothing in my job description called for a social justice warrior.
My heart remained in my throat as I took the empty jump-seat between Gemma and Kent. It choked me and constrained my breathing. My adrenaline was beginning to wane, leaving me to suffer the cold sweat collecting under my arms and in the center of my back.
My friends were on their own phones—which also weren’t in airplane mode—while the engines roared in the seconds before takeoff. Neither confronted me about my passenger interaction, which made me believe they’d missed it entirely.
“Will you take over First Class during beverage service?” I asked Kent.
Gemma looked up from her phone. “But what about 3B?” she asked, in reference to my bingo card.
“There’s really nothing I can get this time around,” I excused. “Maybe next flight I’ll be luckier.”
Kent hummed his agreement and returned his attention to his phone. He didn’t follow up on Gemma’s question about why I was forfeiting First Class, and for that I was grateful. I could only imagine the disapproving looks I’d get from Gemma if she knew I’d practically assaulted a passenger. There wasn’t a bingo square for that.
Neither Kent nor Gemma seemed aware of my behavior, but my blood pressure remained elevated as I expected the passenger from First Class to march into the rear galley at any moment. The remainder of the flight was uneventful, however. Kent took over beverage and snack service in Business Class while I hid in Economy with Gemma to avoid the woman I’d berated.
At the conclusion of the flight, I stayed in the rear galley to record whatever supplies the next flight crew would need to replenish. It was standard procedure, but I volunteered for the tedious task rather than having to stand at the front of the plane and say goodbye to the passengers as they departed. The number of passengers I wanted to avoid had risen to two.
Kent, Gemma, and I were the last ones off the plane. They chatted and teased and joked like usual, but I was noticeably more subdued. My anxiety had nearly leveled off, but I still worried in the back of my mind