OK, so I have been thinking about this for a month, and I may get into a rant here. An airplane is a magnificent magical machine - it takes us out of our world here on the ground and lifts us among the clouds. When I fly, I do so with my nose glued to the window, from takeoff until landing. There are so many wonderful things to see in our world, as seen from the air, and I have taken photographs to show you. I can't imagine people not wanting to see this. Well, on my last flight, I had a center seat, and the woman on the window side, closed the window shade, and went to sleep - sometimes with her head back, and sometimes bent over like this. What a waste of an airplane flight! And I noticed one other feeling - how uncomfortable I felt on takeoff, not beging able to look out the window and watch the takeoff progress. That was a surprise.
Different strokes for different folks. And we ARE all different - in the way we feel about flying, especially, because it's an unnatural thing to get into a metal container and leave behind any sense of control. OK, we know flying is supposedly safer than driving, but in these days of crazy pilots, out-of-control flight attendants, extremely rude and inconsiderate passengers, long TSA security lines, miles of corridors to run to get to the gate, heavy traffic that worries you about catching a flight, getting up three hours earlier than normal to make sure you don't miss the plane, uncomfortable, narrow seats that make touching arms and knees with an oversized stranger a given, and so on, there are many, many, many of us who do not enjoy flying anymore. (I've got my hand raised on that one.) What have we passengers done to deserve these conditions excapt play by their rules, pay the increased fares they demand and put up with all of the inconveniences --like sitting on the runway, waiting for the 5 planes in front of ours to take off before we have our turn? Sure, flying is faster and with the lives we lead today, we don't have time to take more leisurely modes of transportation. We don't even get enough vacation to do that (those of us who are still working). It's good that you're still able to be in awe of the magic of flying, but the woman beside you who pulled down the shade and couldn't wait to fall asleep was probably praying for the whole thing to be over, in a place where she didn't have to queue for the undersized bathroom, left filthy by fellow flyers who are pigs. I'm with her. I'll sleep if at all possible, watch the 4-inch TV screen, try to read -anything, just to make it go faster and get it over with. Of course, once we land, I have to stop myself from screaming at all of the people who jump up immediately after the seatbelt sign goes off, clog the aisles and start taking down their carryons, no matter who is in the way, or who might get hit from falling baggage that's shifted in the overhead compartments during the flight. Maybe any or all of this is what the woman was trying to put out of her mind from the dreaded flight. Or maybe she just had a bad night.
ReplyDeleteWow ...Anonymous, you are good!! I think you covered it all, Well said.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading this, I kept thinking "Hey, you have ALL of this correctly, especially the worrying about traffic because if you get there late, you ticket and the money you paid are toast!" I think you got it all. But for me, the ONE saving grace, is to see the world from above. That ALMOST makes all the rest worthwhile. But I didn't get to do that...
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