The cruise ship my friend was working on docked（停驻） at a Mexican port during a very high tide. Everyone on board was forced to use the ship's narrow gangplank（跳板，踏板） as a passageway to the dock far below.

The staff stood motionless when a passenger in her 70s appear at the top of the plank¹（厚木板，支架） . There wasn't room for anyone to assist her, so she edged along slowly and finally made it to the dock safely, to everyone's relief. As she stepped down, she turned, looked back at the top of the plank and shouted, "It's okay, Mother, you can come down now."