Kindness will save the world.

Story time ✨

On Friday, I had a flight from Singapore to London. I was so tired of grading and writing a new research paper last week, and what I wanted to do was just to get on the plane, read my book 📖, write this newsletter ✍️, plan a few new YouTube videos 🎥, and watch some YouTube videos 📺. As soon as I got on the plane, I got devastated 😔. The man sitting next to me was overweight and was literally sitting on half of my seat. He was with his wife, but instead of him sitting on the window seat, he was sitting in the middle seat. It was obvious that I was uncomfortable. I waited a few minutes thinking that he would understand that I was uncomfortable and would change with his wife. Nope, it didn’t happen.

I was so upset and thought about what I could do. I knew that the flight was full because I checked it when I was checking in. Still, I was thinking that I would be miserable if I fly like this for about 13 hours. Yes, it takes 13 hours to fly from Singapore to London. Anyways, I went and talked with one of the cabin crew and explained my situation. She was very understanding and kind, took note of my seat number and said that she would let me know if there was any empty seat when the boarding was completed. I went back to my seat, still very uncomfortable, thought about leaving the plane (maybe) or upgrading my seat to whatever seat available. Made a few calculations in my mind about how much I would be able to pay if there was still an upgrade option (never upgraded before 😅). Went to her and said that if there were no available seats that I could switch to, I would like to also consider upgrade options. But she said, it was too late to upgrade, and made sure that she would let me know if there was any seat available. Then the boarding was completed, she came to me and said there were only a few middle seats available, which I didn’t want to switch to. I thought I could at least stand up whenever I wanted since I was sitting on the aisle seat (as always, I only sit on the middle seat if I fly with Güven). She said sorry, I thanked her and said that you tried your best. Then she left.

After a few minutes, she came to me and said “come with me, I have a solution 😊” I followed her, very happy, and she offered me two empty seats normally reserved for the cabin crew. She then explained that it took some time as she needed to check with other crew members whether it was okay, etc., and said “let me know whatever you need during the flight.”

Thank you, Bhumika (yes, we know each other’s names now 😄)! You saved me from a horrible 13-hour flight experience and made my day.

By the way, this happened on a Singapore Airlines flight, my favorite airline company (not sponsored, but I wish so 😅). Sorry Turkish Airlines (my favourite before meeting with Singapore Airlines 😁), not sorry British Airways or American Airlines (I hate you! 🙃). I think, who am I to think this but anyways, all Star Alliance companies (especially British Airways and American Airlines) should consult Singapore Airlines and learn how to treat customers and make their experiences as smooth as possible. This has been my thought since I first flew with Singapore Airlines.

I wish all of you have an opportunity to travel to Southeast Asia one day and fly with Singapore Airlines.

As planned, during the flight, I finished my book, wrote this newsletter ✍️, planned a few YouTube videos 🎥, ate good food, drank Tiger 🍺, and watched YouTube videos 📺. Thanks to Bhumika ❤️

One of my favourite sayings in Turkish is “Allah güzel insanlarla karşılaştırsın.” meaning “May God bring you together with good people.” (Thank you ChatGPT!)

See you next Sunday!

Cheers,

Sidika

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