#3 – The Fear of Flying
After yesterday’s plane crash that landed in the Hudson River, I remembered how much I don’t like flying. It’s not because I’m afraid of flying. I actually think it’s pretty fun and have been doing it a lot since I was seven months old.
US Airways Plane Crash in Hudson River
The part that bugs me about flying is that initial smell of the air as you walk inside the plane from the runway. I know it’s not natural air and I don’t know what they do to it but it sure stinks! Just the thought of that stinky air makes me get nauseous even before I get on the plane. Mom says it’s a mental thing and tries to help me get my mind on something else but that hasn’t worked too well.
Here’s a trick that works wonders that my mom did when she flew over to Greece a hundred years ago when they let people smok on planes. And she said the European cigarettes stunk much worse than the ones here. If you have a glass of water that you can take on the plane with you, pretend like you’re drinking it but don’t. Instead, just keep your mouth on the edge and breathe the clean oxygen from the water. Of course you don’t want to have a full glass or you’ll have your nose in the water and that wouldn’t be good or safe. It probably sounds silly but it works. When I don’t have a glass of water, I’ve even carefully put my nose up to a plastic bottle of water and breathed into it.
Other than the horrible smell in the air, I think flying is the way to go. Thankfully, I’ve never been in a crash or even any minor problems while flying so I might change my mind if that ever happened. But flying is like anything else that goes wrong. It’s the old saying my grandpa says, “if the horse bucks you off, you get right back on.”
I can’t imagine what life was like before airplanes. We can go halfway around the world in no time. Everyone knows it’s safer than driving in a car so if a person is scared of flying, I’d say to figure out how to get over it. Otherwise, you’re limited on what you can do or where you can go in a reasonable amount of time.
It’s a good thing that pilot from yesterday’s crash knew exactly what to do to land the plane safely, even if it was in freezing water. At least everyone lived. It must not have been their time.
