Why I hate flying

I do not enjoy flying. Do you? My husband can just fall asleep on the plane, and after the flight he’s just ready to RUN through the airport, grab the bags and find the car. Not so for me. Flying makes me anxious, to say the least. Even though I take dramamine, I must always made sure there’s a barf bag in my seat back pocket, or that I have a big old ziplock bag in my purse. Hopefully both. I have thrown up on a plane, haven’t you? More than once. Not every time, thankfully.

To make the flight more bearable, I come prepared with a few snacks, a water bottle, a book and an MP3 player, yet it still doesn’t make it a pleasant experience. My flight to Atlanta had just started, and then we hit a MAJOR pocket of turbulence. I actually hoped for a moment that I would just die instantly. I did make it through, and the rest of the flight, while less jumpy, was still not very fun.

My little touchpanel on the back of the seat in front of me wouldn’t work. I KNOW how to work a touch panel, yet it won’t DO ANYTHING. People all around me are watching in flight tv or a movie, yet my dumb screen is stuck. When the flight attendant came by with my choice of beverage, I asked her about my faulty touch screen, and she said, “Hmmm, those things are pretty touchy sometimes.” Why thank you so much. And, I’ll take the peanuts and that tiny cup of diet coke, please. My batteries in my MP3 player were waning, I couldn’t really read because it was kind of bumpy, and I really just wanted to distract myself with some mindless tv. Ugh. The sweet lady who was sitting next to me took pity on my. She saw me trying over and over to get my screen to work, and said,
“Would you like to use mine? I’m listening to my book, and have no need for it.” Oh, the sweetie! I plugged my earphones into her plug, and then I got to watch at least one hour of tv. Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers, right?

When we arrived, I found my way to the shuttle to take me to baggage claim, and there was Ryan waiting for me. I was so happy to see him! He had driven the company’s rental car in to pick up another guy whose flight arrived before mine, and after he picked him up, Ryan gave him the car and he circled around waiting for us to call and have him pick us up. So great! While driving through the city at night, I was a-starving, and b-nauseated. But I knew that once we got to the hotel, I could eat something and then sleep, so that would probably take care of both problems.

Our return flight was better. I was traveling with Ryan, so even though our seats were not together (I was in the VERY back of the plane), I got to board with the special people because he’s a gold medallion member or something like that. I settled into my MIDDLE seat and waited for the seats around me to fill up. For a moment or two I thought that the window seat might be vacant, but no such luck. I don’t think airlines fly with very many vacant seats these days. On one side I had the old guy wearing shorts who fell asleep immediately, and at one point he had his head just about on my shoulder. He startled and woke up and apologized. I got a chuckle out of it. On the other side I had a bearded guy who was quietly talking to himself from the moment he sat down. I wondered if I had some kind of crazy next to me, but then I looked a little closer at his book and realized it was Romeo and Juliet, and he was probably memorizing. I asked him if he was memorizing, and he told me he was playing Lord Capulet in his local community theater production next month. We chatted a little bit about theater and then he went back to his memorizing and I tried to read my book. Even though I knew he was memorizing, it still felt a little like I was seated next to a crazy person.

When we landed, I was pleased that I had not thrown up, or even felt the extreme urge to throw up. It took me forever to get off of that tin can, however, since I was way in the back. Ryan had time to go use the bathroom and was back in time to meet me. It was with semi shaky legs that I made my way to baggage claim. Unfortunately, I was trying to keep up with hubby, who was off like a bat out of…well, you know. When we finally made it to the safety of the car, I said, “Don’t you feel sick?” I asked. Nope, he feels fine. I, on the other hand felt completely wiped out and slightly sick for the rest of the day. Worth it? I guess. But I still hate flying.

ps–I think I left my whole makeup bag there in the hotel somewhere. I remember trying to stuff it in one of our bags, but they were pretty full by then. I fear it didn’t make it into a bag, because I’ve unpacked and can’t find it anywhere. No, I don’t have expensive cosmetics, but those were my favorites, and now I have to use the “what’s left”. I may have to go out and buy a new mascara and some makeup brushes. grr.