The Life and Death of a Dream

Sometimes the stars in the universe align just right and in that moment, all your dreams come true.  And sometimes the stars and the universe cataclysmically collide and everything you ever dreamt of collapses into a very dark hole…

The latter was made painfully aware to us as we were boarding our flight to Beijing.  As a ticket agent checked our passport and Chinese Visa another couple beside us was going through the same.  An older couple.  A couple who were standing in line extremely excited that they were finally taking “that” holiday – the long awaited luxury Viking Cruise that began in Beijing.

“Do you have your Chinese Visas?” asked the Air Canada gate agent.

“Visas?” replied the woman (stealing an awkward glance at her husband) “What do we need a Visa for?”

The agent stood motionless and looked at our agent.  We could see immediately that she had “that look” – the one where you know things are going to get very sad very quickly…

The husband now begins to fidget and his face grows pale.  The agent grasps for something – anything – to thwart the disaster.

“Are you in transit?  Are you in China less that 72 hrs?” 

The wife becomes panicked.  “We are on a cruise through China!  We are arriving 4 days early to spend time in Beijing.  Viking never said anything about a Visa!!”

Our agent looks down in pained silence.  He knows what he must do.  The agent with the couple gently pulls them aside.  We are quickly handed back our passport and boarding passes.  Our agent tells everyone behind us that his booth is now closed and feeling altogether helpless, we all move along to what we must do next.

For us it was boarding our flight.  Trying to find overhead luggage space.  Anxiously waiting to see if that middle seat between us would remain empty or be filled.   We take our seats as the Captain begins an announcement:

“Ladies and Gentlemen, just to let you know there will be a delay in our departure.  Two passengers who did not have Visas to enter China have been removed from this flight.  It will take a few minutes for the baggage handlers to locate and remove their stowed bags as per protocol.”

We sit silent.  I ask the Good Doctor, “Do you think they could get to the Chinese Consulate and still get Visas?”  He is solemn.  “It’s very unlikely.  It’s Friday.  The Visa Office closes at 3.  Its already 1 pm.  Even an expedited visa takes 2 full working days to process. The soonest they could fly out is Wednesday.  Their cruise will have left by then.”

So there it was.  One couples dreams coming true.  Another couples dreams now broken.  Life is not only about what you get but also about what you can lose.  In a single moment there can be exuberant joy or soul crushing loss.  The death of a dream is still, after all, a death.  And death has a way of humbling us all…