Oct 16, 2007

fear of flying.

in spite of Erica Jong, i do have a fear of flying.
i hate it.
(and yes, i do realize her fear of flying is completely different than mine. just go with me here)

i am reasonable, though...i understand that the majority of the time, it is the easiest way to get from point A to B, the Hilton commercial notwithstanding. don't try to sugar coat it, Madison Ave. i.hate.flying.

the Husband has no sympathy for me. see, he was born with the in-flight magazine in one hand and a list of all airport codes in the other. it's in his blood.
his brother sells airplanes and flies. their dad sold them for a short time, but also flew. at one point, most of the family worked in the travel industry.
his dad also started the Walt Disney Travel Co., many moons ago. oh and that he pissed of the president of Disneyland by racing on a moped through the parking lot frequently, but that's another post.
back to me. it is all about me, remember.

i've done most of my flying in my adult years...and actually have flown more in the last 12 years than in my whole 45 years.but.i.still.hate.it.
for some reason, take-offs scare the beejeebers out of me. not landings. strange, i know.
it didn't help that, years ago when i dated this one fellah, his father (who also was taking flying lessons) said to me "oh, you shouldn't worry about take-offs. worry about landings; they're controlled crashes."
thanks, ex-boyfriend's dad. don't help me.

but after meeting Brendan, there was a lot more flying in my future. trips to Vegas to visit the in-laws, later to Reno to see the Sister and all. honeymooning to Sedona. trips to Michigan and Florida.
then there was the fun work trips to Dallas and Philadelphia. trips i had to put on my Big Girl Panties and fly by myself.

fun, fun, fun, till the attendant takes the drink cart away.

but with all the fun of flying, i have discovered something: Southwest makes a killer Bloody Mary.and killer Bloody Marys make flying, for me, soooooooooooooo much easier. almost enjoyable. (i did say almost)

as i said before, Brendan doesn't get it. he doesn't understand why flying freaks me out. but i do. it's a control thing. as in i'm not in it. and for a control freak, it's a bad thing.
berry, berry bad.

so if i can't be in control of the giant flying Tylenol in the sky, i can be in control of how many Marys i date.
so just imagine, if you will, my frustration that our Thanksgiving flight leaves at 6am, before the airport bar does. which leaves me either to wait until they start drink service -or- fix one before we go.

but heck, even for me, 4:30 am is a wee bit early for a drinkie-poo.

thankfully, i've got until Thanksgiving to work this out.
if only all of life's problems were this easy to sort.

9 comments:

Tug said...

I LOVE to fly, & just try to stay awake long enough for the take-off...to me it's like driving my care really REALLY fast! It's like once in that plane, I can let go of the Virgo control thing I guess...

My mom, however...notsomuch. So I kinda get what you're saying. Mix a strong one at home - seriously. Maybe then YOU can sleep through it.

L said...

I am so there with you on the fear of flying thingie. When I have to book tickets I often want to ask them to just hand over the happy pills then and there because I will start worrying about the turbulance weeks before I have to experience it.
I was once on a flight with my older brother. At takeoff I grabbed his leg and dug my nails in, hanging on for dear life. In his calm big brother way he just patted my hand and said " A little tense sis?" The understatement of the day!
My advice, since the flight is too early for the airport bar....find some happy pills!!!!

Melissa said...

I love to fly. LOVE it. I really love to fly alone - I did a lot of it in college and before I had AM.

I used to really enjoy the airport, too, until Homeland Security took over. Dang screeners took the fun out of everything!

Lissete said...

I got on a plane for the first time 2 years ago for my 39th birthday. I didn't choose a quick 1 hr test flight either. Oh, no. We went to Vegas (from Miami)!

I still have a hard time wit take offs and landings! But a little Ativan & noise cancelling headphones helps me.

I still have not attempted a solo flight. Don't think I care to either. But in the last 2 years, I have been on about 16 planes, 1 prop plane & a helicopter!!

Susie Q said...

I actually love to fly but hate the getting to the planes and off of the planes. That is horrible!!! Our last trip via air, to NYC, was an airport nightmare. I will tell you that story sometime. : )

Bill can always explain the noises to me so that helps...: )

I have a friend here that is paralyzed by flying. She does it but, for her, it is rum and coke and a lot of them. Danny is scared of flying too. When we went to Holland he downed several drinks and went right to sleep...pow. All the way. Now THAT'S flying!

Erica Jong...you silly girl.

Love ya,
Sue

doodlebugmom said...

I have never flown, I know I would hate it too. Heck I am scared of a pickup! :o)

Pat said...

I don't mind flying quite as much as the security checks before getting on the plane! Having to remove articles of clothing and be frisked by strangers, in full view of the rest of the world....where's the happy pills for that line, I ask you?

Steff said...

Oh, I'm the complete opposite. I LOVE to fly. Take offs and landings are my favorite part! Maybe you could take an OTC sleeping pill and just sleep through it all? Or have an OJ screwdriver!

I'm sure you'll be fine. Besides, aren't more people killed by donkeys than by plane crashes?!!?!

Anonymous said...

I am with you baby! I HATE flying. I hated it so much that I didn't do it the first time until I was 35. I've flown quite a bit since then, but that doesn't meant I like it; it just means that I'm not prepared to miss out on life because I'm afraid of flying. Technically it's not the flying I'm afraid of, it's the crashing!

btw, you HAVE to change the Hairspray songs on here ... get ours! Just go to my list and copy from mine, then you'll have the right ones.

Hey, did you know that today is our young fantasy's birthday! Scary! Damn boy could be my son!

Jaq