287. Our Fellow Travelers

Nora heard a podcast interview that made her think about how she thinks about all of the other people she interacts with when traveling. 

You can listen to the episode of Code Switch Nora mentions here. Shanaz Habib’s book is called Airplane Mode: An Irreverent History of Travel. 

Transcripts may not appear in their final version and are subject to change.

I’m Nora McInerny, and it’s going to be okay.  Sometime in late November, I heard an episode of the show Code Switch featuring Shanaz Habib and her book Airplane Mode.  I actually had to look up the transcript specifically for this part that caught my ear, where Habib is talking about the competitive and individualistic nature of air travel. 

She said, I want to have a sense of solidarity. I want to have a sense of what can I do to think of this as a moment of cooperation between all these people who are traveling.  And often that means I can do something for a fellow traveler to make their travels a little easier, instead of constantly thinking about just what I want to get out of this travel. 

When I heard this, I didn’t have any travel plans, but it was also the height of the holiday season where there are school recitals, and wish lists, and reservations to make the holidays special.  And it struck me, driving in my car to check another errand off my list,  that everyone on the road was a fellow traveler, that everyone in line at the post office, or pushing their cart through Target, or saving seats at the recital when the email literally said, do not save seats, is a fellow traveler. 

We are in it together.  Whether it is a fart tube falling apart in the sky, you might call them airplanes, or a movie theater, or the merge lane on the highway,  this competition between us is Not of our making, and it is hard to unmake, tangled as we are in the web of capitalism. But we can take a break from it,  or at least pause and call a truce. 

So a few months after I heard that, I was on a packed rental car bus, when a beleaguered grandmother hurried six little kids onto the bus, shouting at them, hold on to the railing. And I eyeballed two men with the universal eye widening that means stand up and give these kids your seats. And then I offered this woman a hand with her numerous, very heavy suitcases. 

And she said, I fricking got it.  Um, and then undoubtedly slipped a disc or two lifting her suitcases. And I said, all right, because you know what? Our fellow passengers do not need to accept or appreciate our efforts.  And when the bus lurched and she stumbled back, it was my giant body that stopped her from tumbling to the ground. 

And she said thanks, but I hadn’t done anything but stand behind her and be much taller than her and listen to a podcast.  It doesn’t matter,  because whether we know it or not, whether we acknowledge it or not, we are in this together.  I’m going to say that last line a little heavier.  Because whether we know it or not, whether she knew it or not,  Whether we want to acknowledge it or not,  we are in this together. 

As my fellow travelers  in this life and on the road and wherever our paths may or may not cross,  I hope that somebody makes your travels a little bit easier and you find a way To make them easier for someone else.  I’m Nora McInerny. This is, It’s Going To Be Okay. We are a independent podcast and we love hearing your okay things.

We love that you are sharing the show with other people and helping them find it. Our team here is Marcel Malekebu, Claire McInerny, Grace Barry, and myself. This episode was mixed by Amanda Romani and our theme music is by Secret Audio.