She Who Will Be Obeyed!: three days from now

October 27, 2003

three days from now

I will be on a plane to England. I'm getting pretty nervous about it. John has been there for a week, and when the conference he is attending is over, I should be landing at Heathrow.

Being the worrywart I am, I am afraid that my plane from KCI to O'Hare will be late or something and I'll miss my connection there. There is only about a 35 minute layover. I called the airline, and they assured me that it was a legal layover -what the heck is a legal layover?

Damn. I'm only going to be in England for 4 days. I will be very upset if I miss one of those days. I have never been outside the country in my entire life, unless you want to count Mexico, just south of Brownsville, Texas.

And the thought of being on a plane for that length of time - oh, not good.

I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but I was in a pretty scary emergency landing when I was a teenager. Our family was going from St. Louis to Chicago, and then on to Green Bay for vacation. One of the engines on the turboprop caught fire (or is it called flamed out or something?) Anyway, we didn't make it to Chicago, we made it to the Springfield, Illinois airport, kinda. Runway was a little short, good thing the soybean fields were level.

As we came down, the flight attendant was screaming " we are all going to die", and of course, there was a priest on board ready to give us all the Last Rites.
(Now called something else - Sacrament of the sick or something lame).

We made it just fine, but I was only able to fly after that under hypnosis or with heavy doses of drugs. In fact, I did not fly at all for about 25 years when I got my current job. When I started flying again, the doctor prescribed Xanax, which is wonderful for phobias.
Eventually, I gave up the Xanax and started to really relax and enjoy flying. I no longer felt that I had to concentrate on keeping the plane in the air or it would fall down!

But this is a big trip, a big step. I have a supply of Xanax, just in case, so I'm sure it will be fine. I am just a big chicken shit.

Posted by Beth at October 27, 2003 6:35 PM

Comments

Ugh! I've been to Mexico just south of Brownsville before (the town is called Matamoros). It is not in the least representative of Mexico as a whole, but the border towns are what a lot of people in the US think of as "Mexico".

I hope you enjoy your trip to merry olde England!

Posted by: Jack at October 27, 2003 11:03 PM

UGH! I woulda bitch slapped that flight attendant. I'm serious. Those people are supposed to keep us civilians CALM, no matter what!

I've only had a few rough flights, but nothing like "we're all gonna die!". Sometimes I'm okay to fly, sometimes I have to get drunk. One flight from Houston to NY I was loaded and fell out of my seat. Maybe there was turbulence. Maybe not.
On a flight back from Chicago to Houston I passed out cold. When I got to the parking lot I fell on my face and kissed terra firma. Yup.
Those were the worst, and even they weren't that bad, I'm just a wuss... If I'd had xanax, I'd have taken them...!

Hope you have a wonderful time!! :)

Posted by: pam at October 28, 2003 6:07 AM

Yup, Matamoros, that's where it was - where the taxi drivers ignore all traffic laws, the police are kinda scary and the town smells of raw sewage.
I don't blame them for crossing the Rio Grande.

Posted by: Beth Donovan at October 28, 2003 7:04 AM

Hi Beth,

Well I'm not going to make you feel any better by telling you I wouldn't schedule with a 35 minute layover unless it was a small airport, definitely not O'Hare. Is it at least the same airline or will you have to change terminals?

Have you called your travel agent and asked about an earlier flight departing KCI or a later flight departing O'Hare? (Not that you should change your schedule, just to know what options you would have in case of delays.)

On the other hand, the best attitude when it comes to travel is Que Sera Sera, Whatever will be will be.

No sense losing sleep over what you have no control over. Consider it part of the adventure, and maybe a sidestreet you hadn't planned to explore but for some reason are meant to.

Posted by: DC at October 28, 2003 9:15 AM

It is the same airline, same terminal, and I called the airline and they said not a problem, they have flights leaving every hour for London if I miss this one. So, I'll just hold my breath!

Posted by: Beth Donovan at October 28, 2003 10:08 AM

Well, the good thing about international flights is that usually the plane is larger, bumps around less, has a better safety record and is generally more comfortable.

Posted by: sugarmama at October 28, 2003 10:20 AM