Flying

Just a quick one today, then I'm off to the beach . . .

I seem to have lost my fear of flying. Which was a delightful and unexpected surprise to me. Perhaps this fearlessness I'm attempting to cultivate in other areas of my life is actually taking hold. Nice! At any rate, during those first few moments of hurtling down the runway, when I'm usually gripping the armrest and attempting to discover faith, I actually was enjoying myself . . .

I did note, however, just as we were about to leave the ground, a very large sign along the runway that said "Think Safety." Hmmmm. Now, I'm not sure if this was meant for the pilots, the ground crew, or me. But yes, please "think safety." Excellent advice in this particular setting. Hopefully no one actually needs reminding about that, but there it is.

Also, prior to takeoff, I was perusing the safety card for a little pre-flight entertainment, and was reminded of Fight Club (naturally) where Tyler is telling Ed Norton's character about how the smiling people in the illustrations are meant to lull passengers into a false sense of security. I was thinking about this as I noticed my cards had photos of actual people performing the emergency procedures. They were not smiling. The didn't even look very sure of themselves. I did not feel reassured. I want my smiling people, damn it.

Not that it mattered, now that I am no longer afraid. Flying is great. Or could it be that the airlines have found some less obvious way to lull me into complacency? I prefer to take the credit, but I do love a good conspiracy theory . . .