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I sat at the gate for my full flight, looking around because you can usually spot someone from Maui.
On the plane, flight attendants, donned in floral aprons with plastic flowers in their hair, greeted eager passengers. Families with children already bickering on who gets what filled the rows.
The lead flight attendant tells everyone over the PA we are going "to her most favorite place in the world."
The plane erupts around me. I feel like the only person in a sea of strangers.
When I hear the cheers for vacation, I think of my students. Some must have breakfast with tourists who look at them like objects who didn't belong.
I think of my best friends. They receive calls daily from FEMA or insurance or Red Cross. They must sift through ashes to find anything from the life they built over years and generations.
I think of how every person I interacted with outside of Lahaina has asked, "Did you lose your home?"
I think the last I heard, only one hotel has renewed their contract with the Red Cross.
I think of the 3,000 families in temporary shelter that's about to expire.
I think of 6,800 people with nowhere to go.
I think of how these folks on vacation can exert their economic power over basic human rights.
The lead flight attendant got on the PA during descent, providing her tour of Maui.
"See that winding road on the right? That road takes you right to Lahaina, Ka'anapali and Kapalua."
Victoria Frances Zupancic
Lahaina