Flying High

Today I talked to a friend of mine who is about to fly for the first time since she was little. She cracked me up as she talked about all her worries and wonders...because she reminded me so much of myself about 4 years ago when I flew for the first time.

So...I am making a little care package for her:

And I'm making a list of things I wish people would have told me before I flew. Some of these I already mentioned to her today, but I'll just remind her.

1. When I stepped on my very first plane, I stopped and stared. The only planes I'd ever seen were on TV. You know...Lost. Flight Plan. Air Force One. The Wedding Singer. No one told me commercial planes came in smaller versions. I stepped onto my two-seat/aisle/one-seat plane that wasn't even tall enough for me to stand up straight in and thought You have got to be kidding me. This is what I'm trusting my life to?

2. I'd not really considered the idea of turbulence. Again...I'd seen season one of Lost, so I knew about that kind of turbulence, but I remember grabbing the arms of the seat and saying to Mom "WHAT WAS THAT?" when we hit our first turbulence. It felt like we were going over a railroad track, which wasn't too scary...except I was pretty sure they didn't keep railroad tracks at however many thousand feet.

3. Clouds are not the cotton balls they might seem from the ground. This was one of the things I told her today. Don't clouds look so pretty in the sky? Fluffy little wisps....but going through them is kind of like blasting through the lake in a speed boat. Who knew?

4. I didn't bother her with these things since she's not very big, but I also didn't realize I would have to fold up into 1/4 my normal size to fit in my seat. While I know I'm not skinny, I'm not obese, but I sure was in that seat! These hips barely squeezed in! And forget leg room!

5. I assumed descent happened like ascent. When we went up, I did the close-my-eyes-tight-and-wait-for-the-space-ship-blast-off-feeling to leave. I assumed we'd come down with equal terror. (Again, maybe too much Lost?) I didn't know we'd drop like an elevator...fly along...drop like an elevator some more...fly along...you get the idea.

6. Bring on the air. That little personal air blaster thing above the seat? My saving grace in every flight. White noise is so calming to me, so I loved the sound it made. And I was usually sweating in fear...so the cold air felt good. Love that little thing!

I have to say that my first flight - once I got past all the are you kidding me moments - was wonderful. We had THE BEST flight attendant. Hysterical guy. He said stuff like "I would recommend deciding what you want to do before you go into the bathroom so you know whether to walk in or back in - and don't change your mind once you get in there, because there's no room to turn around." A year later, I ended up on another of his flights...this time with my sister. I said, "Oh he's the best!" She said, "You remember your flight attendant?" I told her, "You just wait til he starts talking." Mmmm hmm. She was crying laughing in no time flat.