I flew to Sydney today and had the fun experience of sitting next to a pilot. No, not the pilot. There were a few pilots sitting with us plebs hitching a ride, and I was lucky enough to sit beside one. As he was settling in, I was about to make the obvious joke.

Can you guess?

That’s right, “Are you sure you’re in the right seat? “

I refrained. A few years ago I made a commitment to try not to make obvious jokes or comments. So instead I said:

“I can’t wait to tell my 3 year old son that I sat next to a pilot on the plane.“

He appreciated that. I did say I thought I’d refrain from the obvious joke of “are you in the right seat”. He agreed that it does wear a little thin. Does it still count as my not making the obvious joke? I think so…

So as we were landing, I looked to my left and saw another plane. It looked as though it was at a similar height to us, and preparing for landing.

I must say that I freaked out a little. I’ve never flown so close to another plane before and I didn’t think it was “the norm”. I turned to my new pilot friend (who had slept pretty much the whole flight) and said as much. His response was “Yeah it’s pretty cool Hey.” I took this to mean that all was right in the skies. Not long after, this other plane and ours performed a perfectly synchronised landing.

It was a beautiful thing. I have been on dozens of flights in my life and this was a first. It’s nice to know that life can still make mundane things a bit extraordinary sometimes.

Something worth remembering.