One thing I really miss is afternoon flights and evening long-haul flights. If I had it my way I would catch them more often. Why? Well, to me having long-haul flights scheduled in the afternoon was something that mimicked the flexibility of having immense financial freedom that saw the conditions of the income stream governed by an individual’s wishes and not their corporate job. Having the decision-making process go something like “I’m solely booking a 4 pm flight because I don’t want to get out of bed at 6 am to prepare for a long flight”. In contrast to it looking like, “Oh gosh! it’s 8:30 and I’m stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic and my flight leaves in thirty minutes, should’ve skipped breakfast”. There was something relaxing and almost comforting about the whole airport process in the afternoon. Whether it was the guarantee of a hefty lunch on the flight or the opportunity to get to see the sunset from an aerial view as you gently recline and slowly put the blinds over your eyes, it is an experience I look back on fondly and would like to materialize for myself in the future.
Convincing myself to get said future is complicated to come by. This is a future in which my biggest concerns are no longer my finances and appeasing whoever I report to but having the privilege of getting mildly infuriated by minor inconveniences. Of course not to the degree that I become tone-deaf but experience life at a higher level in technicolor. Seeing this bigger picture gets hard though when what you’ve been told to take one step at a time is very difficult and you’re lost. I recently turned 18 (on the 26th of June if I ever forget) and my residence permit for the country our family has been reallocated to expired. This resulted in me overstaying, obviously a massive issue for multiple reasons but I’ll focus on one. Immigration. My immigration experience was a complete contrast to everything I have mentioned with regard to afternoon flights. I felt vulnerable, upset and confused. What was a calm procedure quickly became very sour. Granted I did overstay my welcome legally, this was not under my control due to Covid-19’s effect on all government ministries including the one in charge of getting my residence permit processed. Even after producing a lot of paperwork to argue my case with the immigration officer, I was still reprimanded for being naive and apparently being old enough to “Know better”. I could talk about how flawed it is to attribute life experience and maturity of ALL kinds to some arbitrary number but that’s not what this piece is about. Now, I’m not trying to equate the time of my flight to being the causation or having some co-relation to my treatment at immigration but it led me to a realization. The feeling I got from afternoon flights was the faux sense of privilege and more importantly how privilege provides convenience. Including convinces that could have saved me from a nasty encounter with an immigration officer that’s been denied a lunch break. Of course, there should be some form of acknowledgment to be done where one has privilege whether it’s due to wealth, race, or gender. With that said one of the many facets of privilege is convenience, which makes situations all the much easier to deal with. This is because they are done efficiently and if not there are numerous backup protocols that can be followed to address any issues.
A convenient life is one that everybody deserves and should at the very least be given the chance to obtain. When people are not preoccupied with thoughts about their next meal or if they can access healthcare (for countries that do not have universal healthcare) it allows them to focus more on what’s important to them. From their values and beliefs to dreams and aspirations. More people get to contemplate their life’s purpose and how they choose to define it. The benefit of this is people feel like they can live a happier and more fulfilling life, by doing what’s best for them as well as adding value to society by whatever means possible based on their values. The groundwork for this though is the bare necessities being covered by convenience for all. I honestly believe because of this there isn’t anything inherently wrong with seeking privilege but caution should be exercised in its use and in cases of its abuse it should be called out and addressed swiftly.
