While taking off in an aircraft or while the plane starts descend while approaching destination you may be faced with blockage in ear, which may eventually lead to unmanageable pain.
When I faced this problem I turned to the lady, who was probably amused at the fact that I was not apologizing for the uncontrollable internal sounds that were emerging from my internals. How many times would have I had to say ‘excuse me’ for the sounds which were non-stop. The best I could do was to ignore her stares on me. I behaved as if I never noticed them. This probably made her ignore my miseries too. She saw me covering my ears, bowing down and sometimes saying an ah!!! But that was not enough to gain sympathy.
I had to finally say “Excuse me, do you know how to manage this pain in the ears”.
“No”, she responded moving her head side to side, but she also looked to be beautiful and it made me feel she was genuine.
I continued struggling with my pain for two more seconds and the lady seemed to gain enlightenment. I heard her gentle voice saying to me “Try Swallowing”.
“Swallow what?” I thought and I turned to her – she swallowed gently. You would have almost missed that tip if you did not understand these gentle people on earth who have mannerism in everything. They are not too loud with anything. Be it in their expressions or in their tone. But at the same time they send out clear messages if you have your senses tuned on to perceive them.
I swallowed air and was magically relieved of my pain and was left only with the blockage sensation. The blockage was manageable so I was wondering if I should expect a tip for the internal sounds as well. I thought I could take charge of even that and say ‘excuse me’ to the good lady. My blocked ears did not receive the second tip that she offered. However, I knew she was wondering if her tip had helped. So I turned again and said “I am relieved, it worked!!!”. An Indian that I am, I uttered my “Thank You” only at the time we departed on landing and without attaching “for everything” to it. She might have expected this the moment I got relieved but she still departed with a smile. I like giving a try to bridge culture differences without adapting.
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