The Flight - What’s Your Story?
4 January, 2008 - Misc, Motivation - 8 Comments
“Ladies & Gentlemen, Zoom Flight 172 to Toronto via Glasgow is now boarding.” - Two People. One Return Flight.
It was 2005. August. I was 17.
The wreckage of Air France Flight 358 had just been cleared from runway 24L at Toronto Pearson and I was preparing to board a flight. A flight from Manchester to Toronto. My first flight alone.
I was hopping the Atlantic for a five day stay in Canada’s Eastern city to meet friends I had met online. Vito had offered to lay on a lavish BBQ in his back garden. Simon and family had offered to join me for a day at Canada’s Wonderland theme park. Paul and Amy were to keep me company by grabbing the hotel room next door, and Nick, a regular reader and commentator on this blog, and his wife Denise promised to amuse us with vodka soaked melon. Of course it was worth the 7,000 mile round trip!
But I was nervous. And excited. And scared. I was 17 and I was in Britain’s second largest airport. My Dad took me to the terminal and stayed with me for as long as he could. Then we got to the security checkpoint and he had to leave. It really was one of those movie like moments where a son goes off to war with the Dad standing there with his firm voice, “Yes Son. This is the time.” Although it was more a case of “You can’t go through to that part, can you?”. “No. You’re on your own from here”.
So On My Own I went!
I booked with budget airline Zoom. They were, and still are, the best airline I’ve ever flown with. I booked an exit row seat. I could stretch. Stretch. And SRETCH. And still not touch anything. I could sleep in my aisle seat and Lauren, the lady sitting next to me, could take a trip to the bathroom without the need to wake me up.
So sleep I did. Then, with a couple hours of the flight remaining, I started chatting with Lauren. We had spoke briefly several times throughout the flight.
“Do you want my nuts?” I said.
In true Canadian fashion. “Hell Yeah!” was her reply
Frankly, that question would have a whole different meaning to me today, but back then I was an innocent 17 year old kid! 
I asked her why she was flying in to Toronto. With great enthusiasm and delight she explained she had been with friends in Manchester for the last two weeks and was now on her way back home.
As we spoke and shared boiled sweets to stop our ears popping, she pointed out parts of the city to me. Toronto harbour. Center Island. Downtown. “Oh, there’s the airport. We must be doing a sharp turn soon”. It was obvious she was happy to be on her way home. Her cat was being looked after by her sister and her best friend had given birth while Lauren was in England.
As we got off the plane, fresh and first from our exit row seats, we said our goodbyes. And then it occurred to me that there really was nothing to be afraid of. This was a place where people lived, worked and played. It was just like home, only the cops have guns and the people talk a little funny. One interesting conversation at 39,000ft had helped put me at ease and suddenly I was ready to tackle the city and all it sent my way.
Then The Guy With The Gun
A quick dash off the plane to the security hall. “Where are you staying?”. “How long are you staying?”. “What’s the purpose of your visit?”
“I’m meeting with a bunch of friends I met on the Internet. We’re gonna have a BBQ, go to Canada’s Wonderland. See the sights.”
As he looked up from his pen and paper… “Say again please? You’re meeting friends you know from the Internet?”
“Sure. We’re gonna have a blast!” I said with a kind of 17 year old whimper.
“I’m going to refer you to a second officer. Please go down to the next hall for further questions”
While all this was going on, I was oblivious to the fact that I had been sent to the second hall because they were scared I was going to end up in the hands of an Internet predator. I thought it was normal to be referred to the second hall. For about five seconds. Then I realised nobody else was following.
15 minutes later, having spelled Vito’s surname and the hotel name multiple times for the guy with the gun, I was ‘free to go’.
Looking back on that, I think I was lucky to be allowed entry to the country. If I was sat in that officers chair, I’m not sure I would have let a 17 year old kid in the country who says he is meeting a bunch of adult Internet friends that he has never met in person! Would you?!
So in to Canada I went. I did indeed have a blast. Vito’s cooking was nothing short of exceptional. A day of extreme rides and winning toys for Simon’s son, Liam, was fantastic fun. Meeting Paul and Amy for the first time and being next door to them in the hotel was awesome. And yes, Nick did entertain us all after consuming the melon soaked in vodka!
Then It Was All Over
It was time to fly back home. Frankly, I couldn’t wait. After just five days I was becoming home sick and I longed to hear a strong English accent. I remember the seven hour flight like it was yesterday. The women sat next to me this time decided it would be fun to have air sickness. I decided it would be fun to sleep. But do you recall those times when you’re so, so tired and just as you fall asleep you get a huge ’shock’ or ‘jump’ through your body? It makes you wake up suddenly and you think somebody just prodded you in the side. It only happens to me when I’m incredibly tired. And as we flew back to the UK, I.Was.Incredibly.Tired. I tried to sleep by resting my arms and head on the tray table, only to get the shock of my life every half hour. The women next to me never did ask if I was alright, even after seeing me almost jump out of my seat and look around in complete shock each time. The way I was jumping up and down in that seat, I bet she thought I was having dirty dreams. I guess she thought it best to let me do my thing while she used bag after bag after bag for her stomach contents. 
Thanks For The Vote Of Confidence, Dad!
I arrived back in Manchester at 8am. My Dad picked me up. As we started driving home, he said something that has stuck with me to this day.
“I didn’t think you would go” he said.
“Why? There was never any doubt” was my reply
That was a lie. There were nerves. There was fear. There was confusion. But I went, I came back, and after 16 hours in the air and five nights in the hotel, I met new friends, met old friends for the first time, advised a man with a gun how to spell, and I stepped outside my comfort zone.
It may not seem like a big victory to you. But for me, those five days and the lessons and confidence I gained will stay with me forever.
What’s your story? What’s the one moment in your life that helped challenge and change you? Maybe it was somebody, or something. Maybe your first pay check from your online business. Maybe it was your first child. On this spiritual Thursday, let us know what your story is.
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Posted on 4 January, 2008 by Jamie Harrop
Filed Under Misc, Motivation |
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You should write fiction or something. That was a very gripping story. Sounds like you have a very interesting tale to tell.
Hey Gyutae,
Thanks for stopping by.
When I first started writing this post a couple hours ago, my aim was to write a story. A gripping story based on fact.
But by the end I didn’t think I had achieved that aim. Maybe I didn’t do too bad after all.
I guess it doesn’t help when I read the post nearly 30 times before I even consider publishing it. After so many times, it doesn’t feel all that gripping anymore. 
That actually was a very good read Jamie!
My story? I was in my last job, nearly a year ago now, and getting blasted every day by my boss, who was an awful person to work for, probably because he was an awful person, no one single person has ever knocked my confidence as much as he did.
I started in that particular job full of confidence and got worse and worse as time went on simply because I got so scared of making mistakes. Then one day I made a huge one and was told to leave there and then.
Money was tight so I had to get a temping job, using my Dutch language skills I was employed in a very demeaning call centre environment and told to ring companies in the Netherlands and ask them if they wanted to buy something I knew absolutely nothing about. I *hated* it.
I got home and nearly cried, it took me a while to find something and I was in the stage of not knowing what else I could do, and then something inside me clicked.
I thought, why cold call for somebody else when I can cold call for myself?
I spent the next week on and off the phone from home using up what free minutes I had on my mobile phone until I bagged myself five new clients, and I have not until now, had to ever use cold calling again, but now I have to (things are a little quiet) I know that I can do it.
“I thought, why cold call for somebody else when I can cold call for myself?”
Such a powerful sentence! That was a fantastic story, Tjobbe. It reminds me the answer I gave when somebody asked me why I don’t work as an employee and have a guaranteed wage. I replied with, “Why should I earn somebody else a fortune when I can work to earn my own fortune?”
I hope the cold calling goes well this time like it did the last. I have every faith in ya!
I’d have to said my time came when I was working as a cook in dead end job after dead end job and said to myself is this what I want to do for the next 30 years?? Hell No! So I decided to get my local college course guide and picked out “Enterprise Networking Specialist” program and enrolled in the course.
2 years later and 8 months of Co-op job experience I got a solid job saved up some money and started my own business. I am so much better off then I was before going back to school. I met Denise during my school days and never looked back from that point. This was my 3rd time at college so I was determined to make it through this time and it paid off.
I agree with the first commenter…very well written. I stayed with you throughout.
[...] In August 2005, at 17, I travelled 3,500 miles, alone, across the Atlantic to attend a BBQ with several Web designers, bloggers and Web host owners in the back garden of the house of a friend I met online. I came back home intact, carrying some of the most important lessons of my life with me. [...]
[...] In August 2005, at 17, I travelled 3,500 miles, alone, across the Atlantic to attend a BBQ with several Web designers, bloggers and Web host owners in the back garden of the house of a friend I met online. I came back home intact, carrying some of the most important lessons of my life with me. [...]