Chuoh & Benjamin

On June 15, 2013, Ben and I woke up and began getting ready to head to the airport. It was the first day of a week-long vacation in Sanibel Island with my siblings and their families. Ben gets along great with my family so we were both really excited. The trip to the airport was uneventful and we made it to the gate early, which is rare for us. The flight wasn’t full so Ben decided to go up to the ticket counter to ask if we could upgrade to first class. He was gone awhile and when I looked up I saw him laughing with the woman behind the counter. I considered that a good sign but when he came back he said that there were no seats available. It seemed weird given that their conversation had taken so long but I didn’t think too much of it. Just before boarding I went to use the restroom and when I returned Ben was at the counter again, laughing with the same woman. After a few minutes he came over and said he had been trying to switch us to the exit row but that wasn’t available either. By this point I was pretty disappointed in his flirting skills.

 

Ben was right behind me as we entered the plane but when I got to our seats I turned around and he was gone. I put my carry-on away, took my seat and wondered where he’d gone. When he finally boarded he was one of the last passengers and he had a very elaborate explanation for his absence. He told me that the flight attendants received a report of a suspicious-looking bag and that his carry-on matched the description so they’d pulled him aside for a search. For the record, Ben’s carry-on was a small backpack, not even a roller suitcase. If you know me, you know I ask a LOT of questions, especially when something makes absolutely no sense. So you can only imagine the 10-minute inquisition I put Ben through. But apparently he’s so used to it that he played it off really well. We agreed that the situation was absurd and left it at that, or so I thought...

 

After about 2 hours in the air the flight attendant announced over the PA system, “Would passenger Chuoh Ngeh please turn on your call button so that the crew can locate you?” I froze and looked over at Ben. He seemed just as startled and confused as I was. I figured this must have something to do with Ben’s “suspicious bag” and that they wanted me to confirm what he’d told them. I pressed the button and when the flight attendant arrived he asked me to come to the front of the plane for questioning. As I climbed over Ben I remember thinking that it was strange that they pronounced my name correctly but I was so nervous I still didn’t think that Ben was involved. When we got to the front of the cabin the flight attendant said he was doing a random survey and then started drilling me with questions. The questions started off very serious and I got more nervous – “Where are you traveling to?”…”What is the purpose of your visit?”….”Who are you traveling with?” But then the questions got sort of fishy.

 

The weirdest one was – “Did anyone offer you any snacks during the flight?” I was about to respond, “umm yeah, you did, you weirdo!” But right on cue he asked me to step back into the aisle and when I did Ben was standing there with a female flight attendant. I was still confused but then she draped a white cloth onto the floor of the aisle and Ben dropped to one knee.  I realized what was going on and the next few seconds are a blur. Ben proposed and I must have said yes because everyone started clapping and taking pictures. I was shaking from all the emotions…fear that Ben and I were being framed for some crime (yeah, I took it there) then excitement from realizing what was really going on. The pilot came over the intercom and asked everyone to congratulate the newly engaged couple. The flight attendant apologized for scaring me and gave us an “engagement certificate” that he’d made from what they usually give to little kids flying for the first time. When we returned to our seats they brought us champagne and those cookies that they only give to first class passengers….which is where we should have been sitting anyway because there were, in fact, some open seats. But I guess that would have ruined Ben’s great surprise!!