Please note: this transcript is not 100% accurate.
Dr. Meenal Agarwal 0:00
The scariest thing is this was all invisible. Welcome to Uncover Your Eyes with Dr. Meenal, where we uncover reality. As a mom and eye doctor, I want to know it all. So recently, I went on my very first plane ride without my husband and my children in eight years. Now, I had taken a lot of these trips alone to conferences, you know, events with friends prior to having kids, but this was my first after kids. So as you can imagine, I was very, very nervous, stressed out, and last minute really wanted to cancel. All night, I was checking my phone, like by my bedside just to check the flight status to see if it was on time. I was very, very nervous. I couldn’t sleep all night. And luckily, the plane was on time. I did get an aisle seat, which I was super excited about. But, you know, the nerves came in when I thought to myself, Who am I going to sit next to? Are they going to be rude? Are they going to make comments? Are they going to be unhappy with my germaphobe, you know, personality where I was going to take out alcohol wipes and wipe everything down in my area? So I was really stressed out. When I went in, sat down, I got into my aisle seat, I didn’t know who my neighbor was, at that time. Finally, a lady came and said, “That seat’s mine.” And so I got up, let her in. You know, I felt kind of at ease that she looked polite. So you know, we’re off to a good start. As the airplane started going, I was getting really, really nervous. So I started, you know, just biting my nails and things that I do when I’m anxious or stressed out. After after we took off. She asked me to if she could go to the bathroom a couple of times. So I got up a few times. And then she sat back down. i She she opened her window cover and she said it was really bright outside. And she asked me, “Is it okay if I opened my window cover?” And I was like, “Yeah, of course.” And she started looking outside, even though it was just bright white light, you know, up in the clouds. And then I noticed her start to bite her nails. And I was like, oh, okay, and it could see from my peripheral vision that she was biting her nails. And she kind of caught my eye. And she looked at me and she goes, “Sorry, you know, I still have to leave the window cover open. I’m feeling nervous and anxious.” And I felt all of a sudden this sense of calmness and relief come over me. And I was like, “Oh my gosh, me too.” And she’s like, “Yes, sorry. That’s why I’ve been going to the bathroom a lot. I’m just really nervous.” And I said, “And this is why I’m biting my nails. Because I’m I’m very nervous.” And she goes, “Oh my gosh, I have to show you something.” So she opens her phone and shows me a text message that her husband sends her and it says, “How’s your neighbor on the plane?” And she wrote back and shows me that message and says, “My neighbor is awesome. She seems so nice.” I was in shock that she was experiencing the same things as me and was even talking to her husband about it. And we both had no idea. So then obviously, you know, we spent the rest of the journey talking about our lives. You know, she told me where she’s from, that she has children, and a very supportive husband. They they live on a farm and you know how her life stresses kind of panned out and her anxiety her, you know, whatever mental health concerns that she’s gone through, she went through it all with me and just unpacked and unloaded. And I did the same. I unpacked everything to her, this stranger, but it felt good. And you know what the scariest thing is, this was all invisible, like our lives are invisible. People do not know what each of us is experiencing. I would have never known if she didn’t open that window cover. If she didn’t start biting her nails, I would have never had any idea that she was in the same boat. And we kind of needed each other. And it was so beautiful to realize that this is all invisible health issues, mental health issues, everything’s invisible. And if we do not use in a positive way, our colleagues, our friends, our family, and even strangers to discuss and talk about things, then I don’t know who we’re going to unpack and unload to we’re just going to build it all on top of us and one day we’re gonna fall down. And you know, at the end of our journey you know, we were talking so much that I didn’t realize in our four-hour plane journey that I had to go to the bathroom. And so when the airplane landed, we actually sat at the gate for a while, you know, I don’t know why. But we sat at the gate for a while and they didn’t let anyone off the airplane and I had to use the bathroom. And I was nervous. I was like, Okay, people were already standing up in the aisles. How am I going to get to the bathroom? And that’s so embarrassing, and it’s going to make me nervous. But what am I going to do? How long are we going to be sitting here? And she helps me, she gets up. And she says, “Sir, do you mind moving?” to a few people in the aisle, and basically helps me make way to go to the bathroom. And I was so thankful to her because she helped me in my time of need. And she was a stranger. And when I got back, you know, we finally were able to start, you know, taking down our things. And we both got up. And the gentleman behind me said, “Wow, that’s so nice. I loved listening to both of your conversations.” And we were both like, what, so somebody was listening to us the whole time and actually, you know, liked our conversation and was, you know, he was smiling. And we felt so shocked that, you know, obviously, he enjoyed our conversation. So he got a good kick on the plane. But these were relationships that were almost unheard of, you know, my airplane buddy relationship, and we need to make more of these, we need to make more of these, we need to be there for each other as people and uplift each other. Don’t let your weaknesses, you know, bring each other down, let your strengths uplift each other. And me and her have have kept in touch now. So I mean, she lives far from me, but we keep in touch just to uplift each other, drop each other a few lines, you know, tell each other about our stresses. And I think it’s probably one of those relationships that will stay with me for life. Right? You know, I hope so. And I think it’s beautiful. So next time you’re on that airplane, make sure you say Hi to your neighbor, and make it maybe a lifelong friendship. Thank you, listeners and viewers, for tuning in. If you want to catch more episodes of Uncover Your Eyes, make sure to Follow or Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and on YouTube. To learn more about me, follow me on Instagram @Dr.MeenalAgarwal. Until next time, keep those eyes uncovered!