Fear of Flying

Does anyone else have a fear of flying? I feel like I’m the only one because when you hit turbulence and the plane just plummets, nobody reacts to it! Everyone acts like we didn’t just free fall 100 feet, it was just no big deal! Can you imagine if that happened when you’re riding in a car? You just plummet into a pot hole and free fall and nobody in the car bats an eye. I noticed too in the air that the plane makes some really weird engine noises, but nobody cares. Everyone just assumes it’s normal. If your car’s engine sounds like it went into a loud, super nova mode….you’d be checking for engine lights to pop on or start smelling the air to make sure nothing is on fire. Also, why can’t you turn on your phone or computer during the flight? Supposedly the radio signals emitted from your device could either interfere with the navigation system, flight control or other on-board electronic equipment! Why are we trusting these huge planes hurdling through the air at 600 mph if it can be taken out by a cell phone? Do we actually trust people to turn their phones off like they’re told? Absolutely not! So that’s going on in the back of your mind during your turbulent flight. Each cloud you hit that makes your plane drop causes you to think is this it? Are we going down? Because I saw Bob over there in seat 3C checking Facebook from his phone! Can you imagine if your car lost control because your passenger was using his cell phone? Another problem I have flying is motion sickness. In a car with a windshield and windows I’m fine, but you can’t see out the windshield in a passenger jet, and the windows are the size of a matchbox, and that’s if the people sitting next to the window are nice and leave it open! That’s not a window, that’s a peephole like they put on doors to see who’s at your hotel door. I do like that you get to pick your seat on the plane…that way if you have misbehaved kids just stick them in someone else’s row and pretend you don’t know them. Have someone else get up a couple hundred times so that your kids can use the bathroom instead of you for a change. Another thing that isn’t comforting is the “grab the air mask” and “use your seat as a flotation device” speech. When you get into somebody’s car, wouldn’t you feel uncomfortable if they showed you how to activate an air mask and use your seat as a life preserver in the event you hit water on your way to work? I’d be thinking what kind of horrible driver are you? I’ll walk, thank you very much. The worst part of the flight is the take off and landing. I just feel like going 180 mph down a bumpy runway that’s jerking you all over the place is not enough of a strip to get you started or stopped. When those brakes slam on as you’re landing and you bounce back up in the air you can’t help but think that’s it! We just bounced over most of the runway and there’s not enough pavement left to get us stopped! We’re going to hit that nice house we just saw with the pool. Maybe it’s a lack of control, like when you’re riding with someone in the car who drives like a maniac and you know that if you grab the wheel like you really want to do, it’s going to do more harm then good. It’s safe to say the plane is the same way. All you can do is trust that it’s the safest mode of transportation, say goodbye to your loved ones in a dramatic way like everyone else does in the lobby, say a lot of prayers, and try to enjoy it!