I’m on a five-hour flight to Toronto. I checked in yesterday 23 hours before the flight and scored an emergency exit row seat. It’s the middle seat, which I don’t prefer, but it has extra legroom, which I’d take over a regular window or aisle seat any day.
We’re three hours into the flight. I’m pretty comfortable but it’s a bit chilly. I have my winter jacket over my legs.
About two hours ago, when the flight attendant was three rows ahead of me offering cookies or pretzels, I had a hard time deciding what I wanted. At least I had some time to think about it—two minutes is enough time. Now did I want something salty that could potentially make me very thirsty; or did I want something sweet that could potentially make me want to dig my toothbrush out of a plastic bag in my suitcase, which was in the overhead bin?
The man to my right ordered a combo meal: it came with a pack of licorice and a ham and cheese croissant. He rejected both cookie and pretzel.
The man to my left chose the pretzels.
I chose the cookies.
I noticed that the man to my left ate his pretzels slowly. I’m thinking they were probably too salty, but I could be wrong. Maybe he just enjoys snacking slowly.
The second round of drink and snack service came, and I chose the cookies again. I think the pretzels are too risky. I also got some hot water because it’s still chilly.
You know, I actually really like these cookies. I was planning on saving the cookies and eating the samosa I bought at the airport first, but I’ve already devoured them.
They are Lotus Biscoff cookies. They are apparently Europe’s favourite cookie with coffee. And they are vegan, non-GMO, and have no artificial flavors.
Yeah, I’m bored on this plane. When you’re bored on a plane, you try to keep yourself entertained—even if that means staring at cookie packaging.
This WestJet plane doesn’t have the nice touchscreen movie selection that Air Canada has, only some fuzzy satellite channels. To be fair, I don’t recall Air Canada giving out any snacks—and definitely not delicious treats like these Lotus Biscoff cookies.
My cell phone has been crashing a lot lately, so I uninstalled a bunch of apps. I uninstalled Spotify, so I don’t have any music with me. I didn’t bring a book to read, and I don’t want to watch fuzzy satellite TV.
For the past three hours, I finished my decaf soy latte, napped, went to the washroom, and re-applied Blistex lip balm on my lips. That’s pretty much it.
I don’t remember the last time I was this bored.
Now that I’m a few hundred words into this post—I don’t know exactly because I’m writing on the back of the boarding pass I printed yesterday at the office—I’ve realized how much I enjoy writing freely without looking back or thinking if it all makes sense.
My earlier blog posts, like the one I wrote while sipping tea in Shanghai from two years ago, are less structured and more like journal entries. But in the last year, I felt like I should provide more “value”—whatever that means—so I started to write more structured, informational posts, like how I planned my Europe trip in one week.
Sometimes, I just like writing whatever comes to mind. (It’s also nice when you have some cookies to snack on while your mind wanders.)
Actually, yesterday I was thinking what it would be like to do a social media cleanse. There’s always too much going on. Even when there’s no music, no movies, and I’m literally strapped down in my seat, my mind is going left and right: I need to search for restaurants for lunch tomorrow. I wonder if my friend replied to my message. I hope I didn’t forget anything important at home. I hope my phone doesn’t die in Toronto. Should I eat the half sandwich tonight, or save it for tomorrow?
When I look around, people are pretty much occupied with something. I don’t see anyone just sitting there and staring into space—quite literally! They either have earphones in, are reading something, or are chatting with the person beside them. Some have just passed out.
I actually don’t remember the last time I felt bored. I feel like there’s always more to do. More work to do, more stuff to learn. But is it bad to be bored? Does that mean I’ve run out of things to do? Does that mean I don’t have ambitious goals? Does that mean I’m wasting time?
I remember when I was a kid, when the internet was not yet popular, I was always bored at home. But I do remember never being bored for long; I would always find something to do to alleviate my boredom.
Now that I think back, I started my first blog out out of boredom. I think the blog was called Boring Girl 20 (I’m not sure if I knew the different between “bored” and “boring” at that time, haha). The more I blogged, the more I liked it. I wouldn’t have discovered blogging if it weren’t for my boredom.
I guess being bored makes you try new things. It makes you notice things and think about things that normally you don’t pay much attention to (like the brand of cookies you are eating on a plane).
