Just another day.....

Part I: 

Feel like I'm from a different epoch, a different century, maybe I'm just back to the future, maybe I'm from another planet.  I haven't flown IN YEARS.  Who are these strange creatures?  What is this incredible security system. Is everyone a terrorist?  Why must they confiscate my huge brand new bottle of Smart Water and test it before they dispose of it? I've only had a sip, just eaten a salty meal.  I'm an idiot.  


Never thought I'd fly again.  Been there, done that.  So much beauty in the world. So many places and people to explore.  But so many spaces in the heart and love for another yet untouched.  So much gardening to do.  I miss my home.  Miss my mom.  Miss my friends and family.  Miss my puppy dog.  Everyone is on their phone or their computer or their tablet.   Two men standing nearby are talking about their Smart phones.  Two men sitting nearby are talking about how incredibly fast and wondrous is technology.  We are robots.  Or approaching robot hood. 

Part II:  

 The gate agent put my ticket under the scanner....."Already On Board" it said.
Hmmm.....   He handed it to another agent who looked into a computer screen.
"Someone is already sitting in your seat, do you mind taking a different place?"
I don't mind.   
Oh gawd.   
Turns out it's an Emergency Exit.  
This would entail some responsibility if something happens.  
Oh gawd.
I board the plane and glance into the cockpit.
That small room controls this humongous plane!
I walk through First Class and resist the urge to grab and guzzle down a man's vodka and cranberry juice
Passing by my would-be former seat, 28B, I check out the man sitting there.  He seems unsuspectingly not to be a terrorist.
I reach my Emergency Exit seat.
Well, it IS roomy.
There's a man sitting next to me who offers to put my bag in the overhead.
"Whatdya have in here, GOLD?" he grunts, heaving my bag in the bin.
He's wearing a camouflage jacket that says, "Guns and Ammo."
I don't know whether to be afraid or feel safe.
A stewardess points out that there's an extra seat across the aisle.  I leap over into it.  I was planning on drinking as soon as possible and i really needed to relinquish the responsibility of the Emergency Exit.  Still, I asked Ammo if he'd be alright.  Guess he misconstrued my meaning and said, "We can still talk."
The pilot comes on, says there's a good tailwind to make up for lost time.  I watch the flight attendant do her routine.  She reminds me of my sister-in-law.  I like her Delta uniform.  My sister used to fly for Delta.  She worked hard and it was stressful.  The flight attendant points out the card to consult for emergency landings.  It says on the front, "Be Safe.". This seems unnecessary to me.  The attendant makes sure our seatbelts are fastened.  Which makes me think of Seinfeld joking about how if the plane is crashing at great speed, a little seatbelt probably won't do much to ensure your safety.
The plane careens around a corner as we speed to takeoff!
What on Earth?! The plane rises into the air and i throw my coat over my head and bawl like a baby after I watch the wing and think about its aerodynamics and wonder.  
I've flown 100s of flights, why I'm terrified now, i don't know.  I think it's 911, and the fact that, as a friend says, it's all the big fears wrapped into one:  fear of heights, claustrophobia, agoraphobia, fear of someone else being in control.  And then there's the fact that SO MANY things have to go RIGHT.  This is huge machinery 30,000 feet or more, IN THE AIR!!!  I think about the last time I flew which was to Ukraine to play music on a mission trip.  And before that, it was to Fiji for a honeymoon.  I really just wanted to go to Arkansas, but he insisted.  Wonder how cockpit and cocktail both have "cock" in it.  Think about all the beautiful people I saw in the airport.  Everyone is beautiful.  Young, vibrant.  Not the big heavy Americains that we used to be last time i flew.  Everyone is working hard, going somewhere. Where?  Why are we working so hard?  Why does our government keep making it all so hard to pay the bills?  Why are they so entitled?  What about those times of bloody revolution when people rose up and bludgeoned their leaders for being such pigs.  How awesome.  How horrific.   Wait, is that the Arkansas River?  No, it must be the Red River.  Are those the Ouachitas?  So beautiful.  The Earth is a  beautiful  woman with curves and folds and mounds of flesh shining in the sun.
I order my Bloody Mary.  The vodka is Skyy.
I am leisurely drinking a cocktail 20,000 feet in the skyy....
We approach Atlanta.  The crescent moon and Venus hang in the blue against the vermillion horizon of a setting sun.  All the lights of the city shine and make me think of a poem my friend Ashley wrote comparing such shimmering to the trinkets and wares a grinning Middle  Eastern merchant spreads out for passers-by to behold.  And we prepare for landing.......
Part III:

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