Fear of Flying

I just came home on a flight out of Detroit, and I sat next to this Hispanic looking girl. Now, we were on a small plane, so I expected it to be a little rougher than a normal flight, but she seemed scared from the moment she sat down. As soon as I sat down next to her she asked me if that's as far as the plane went back, referring to the tenth row. I said yes, and she quickly rebutted that this was the smallest plane she had ever been on. I said there was nothing to worry about, and that I've safely flown on much smaller planes than this. That seemed to calm her down a bit, but as soon as the engines really started blasting, she reached down into her carry-on bag and pulled out a set of rosary beads. From there on out, every couple minutes she would cross herself and mutter some prayer, maybe a Hail Mary or whatever. I'm not Catholic, obviously.

It turned out to be a great flight, much smoother than I had anticipated. When we landed she let out a big sigh of relief and immediately called her parents. She must have been around 21, as she said she was going to be a senior at Pitt. I have no idea why she was so scared, and I found it pretty funny. I see absolutely no reason for anyone to be scared. I mean, if you're going to be safe, that's fine, but if you're going to crash there's nothing you can do about it, so you may as well make it a pleasant a flight as possible.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

If you're gonna die then why should you care? It's not like you're going to know or anything.

There's nowhere I can't reach.