U.S. Air Travel

[Lookin]

A friend of mine gets jittery days before he gets on a plane.  Statistics don't mean anything to him.  He picks a window seat behind the engine and watches the whole way to Brazil.  He averages one trip a year.  I suggested a mild sedative which he pops when he gets on the plane.  It helps, but I can't recall a single time when facts alone overcame feelings of anxiety.  Reason and emotion are different things, and the best I can do is listen.

I used to enjoy air travel and it still doesn't bother me once I'm on the plane.  It's the hassle of navigating to, from and through the airport that keeps me close to home these days.  That and the peanuts.  🙁

[edinbrooklyn]

22 hours ago, EZEtoGRU said:

I’m more concerned with the quality of the on-board service of US carriers than I am about the plane crashing. I’ve never seen such a sorry state of service on domestic U.S. flights in almost 40 years of heavy flying. I normally fly in the premium cabins.  Even transcons in the First or business cabin have turned into a real shitshow.   Anyway, that’s a topic for a different thread. 
 

 

It is dismal. I feel sorry for the cabin crews who put up with so much . . . 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, sync said:

... 

In any event "ducking out" is not the way I would like to be remembered.            

[+ sync]

2 hours ago, Lookin said:

A friend of mine gets jittery days before he gets on a plane.  Statistics don't mean anything to him.  He picks a window seat behind the engine and watches the whole way to Brazil.  He averages one trip a year.  I suggested a mild sedative which he pops when he gets on the plane.  It helps, but I can't recall a single time when facts alone overcame feelings of anxiety.  Reason and emotion are different things, and the best I can do is listen.

I used to enjoy air travel and it still doesn't bother me once I'm on the plane.  It's the hassle of navigating to, from and through the airport that keeps me close to home these days.  That and the peanuts.  🙁

I can totally relate to your friend.  There was a time when I would consult with one of my old friends before boarding (Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, I.W. Harper, Old Grand-Dad).  Things were pretty good when I boarded the plane, but, as soon as I heard the whine of the engines, my friend was gone.

[dbar123]

I’m more worried about being shot in a random attack. When I get on a plane I’m never worried about that. Especially in the continental US.

[+ The Big Guy]

I don’t worry about my safety while traveling.   I get nervous anticipating the inevitable delays, rescheduling, and boarding headaches.  

[Guest]

On 8/23/2023 at 8:32 AM, sync said:

... if your statement had shown more sentence structure rather than dependence upon punctuation...

Punctuation matters. Correct punctuation can save lives! 😄

[CuriousByNature]

There's a difference between a phobia or irrational fear and trying to constantly protect oneself.  I stopped worrying about 'what might happen' when traveling because I realized when your time is up, your time is up.  Everything we do has some level of risk attached - even staying at home.  So I would rather travel and potentially live a shorter life if an accident were to happen, than stay at home 'safe and sound' and regret all the things I sacrificed along the way.  For me it would be a sacrifice, but for others, perhaps not.  

[+ sync]

1 hour ago, CuriousByNature said:

There's a difference between a phobia or irrational fear and trying to constantly protect oneself.  I stopped worrying about 'what might happen' when traveling because I realized when your time is up, your time is up.  Everything we do has some level of risk attached - even staying at home.  So I would rather travel and potentially live a shorter life if an accident were to happen, than stay at home 'safe and sound' and regret all the things I sacrificed along the way.  For me it would be a sacrifice, but for others, perhaps not.  

You have a point, however, these days travelling to a local concert, movie theatre, supermarket, faith service, school, sports event, mall, or just about any other stay-at-home or near-home activity can get your ticket punched.

[CuriousByNature]

19 minutes ago, sync said:

You have a point, however, these days travelling to a local concert, movie theatre, supermarket, faith service, school, sports event, mall, or just about any other stay-at-home or near-home activity can get your ticket punched.

Very true.  And it can be scary.  I think in my 40s I reached the point where my indignation about the state of the world and my defiance cancelled out the fear I may have had.   And now that I am within weeks of turning 50, I feel even more emboldened by realizing I probably only have another 60 or 70 years left. 

[+ sync]

11 minutes ago, CuriousByNature said:

Very true.  And it can be scary.  I think in my 40s I reached the point where my indignation about the state of the world and my defiance cancelled out the fear I may have had.   And now that I am within weeks of turning 50, I feel even more emboldened by realizing I probably only have another 60 or 70 years left. 

I applaud you.  Living in fear is not living.

[+ jessmapex]

3 hours ago, CuriousByNature said:

stopped worrying about 'what might happen' when traveling because I realized when your time is up, your time is up. 

I am too not worried about when my time is up. With a plane, my biggest irrational fear was about those few seconds / minutes of sheer terror as it fell out of the sky.

Imagining what the passengers of the Alaska Air flight 261 went through in 2000 when the plane crashed into the Pacific ocean just northwest of LAX used to give me night terrors. It took them 12 minutes to crash. For the last few minutes before the crash the plane flew upside down (like in the Denzel Washington movie Flight ).

Edited August 25, 2023 by jessmapex

[CuriousByNature]

5 minutes ago, jessmapex said:

I am too not worried about when my time is up. With a plane, my biggest irrational fear was about those few seconds / minutes of sheer terror as it fell out of the sky.

Imagining what the passengers of the Alaska Air flight 261 went through in 2000 when the plane crashed into the Pacific ocean just northwest of LAX used to give me night terrors. It took them 12 minutes to crash. For the last few minutes before the crash the plane flew upside down (like in Denzel Washington movie Flight ).

That would be terrifying...