I remember the feeling I had the first time I got on a plane. Whew. I couldn’t stop shaking, and I had to play it off like I was cold. I’ve used this strategy for other nerve racking moments in my life, too, and most times I was cold--like my first time on TV, first kiss, first skinny dip, what have you…The skinny dip was particularly cold because it was December and 38 degrees outside, but I’d lost a bet and had to deliver the goods. Yeah, it wasn‘t my most stunning moment..
My first flight was from Jacksonville, FL, to Philadelphia, PA. Then after a layover, I flew from Philly to Rome, Italy. That equaled eight hours of being cold.
Since that was the first time I flew, I didn’t really know all the ins and outs or sights and sounds of the plane. These random “dings!” would sound throughout the cabin. I had no idea what they were at the time, but they made me fairly nervous. Was it an alert from the cockpit? Perhaps it was an alarm of some sort, letting us know there were technical issues with the plane. Come to find out, the dings were just alerts to the flight attendants normally meaning more pretzels were on the way. Goody.
I thought surely flight attendants had to be recruited from insane asylums. Who could possibly want to make a living in the air, always smiling, and always talking in a whispering voice. I did eventually manage to talk to one without having my voice tremble. She either wanted to be a librarian or a flight attendant., but she was way too attractive to be a librarian, and she had a fairly sexy whisper.
“That’ll be a nickel,” I imagined her telling me in a soft voice, but she really asked “Sir is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?”
“Yes, I’d like some pretzels…please, ma’am.”
Some people just aren’t afraid to fly I guess, but oh… how I was. It’s kind of ironic because now I make my living “on” the air in a manner of speaking, and that plane has already been in the ground a time or two.
So here’s the bottom line. I’ve learned that I can’t be afraid to fly anymore. This not only applies to planes, but everything. I’ve got to start flip flapping my wings and take a dive. I’ve got to pucker up and kiss the bullet (then bite it) , then take it off and let it hang glide.
I hope to see you in the air and the blogosphere.
