By Joel Vernier
Flying
and napping just seem to go together! Unless you are a white-knuckle
flyer.
The seats on a modern jet are not all that comfortable,
especially if the person in front of you puts their seatback all the
way back. If you have your tray down, it jams into your knees and is
just not relaxing. I think they built the seats to accommodate people
from the middle ages.
Over the last 150 years, human’s average height
has grown 4 inches. Weight has gone up dramatically; just look at the
movies, commercials, and newsreels from the 1950s and Americans have
gained a lot of weight. I attribute this too fast-food chains;
portion size has gotten a lot bigger just look at a burger, fries,
and a coke years ago compared to today. Do we really need a triple
burger? The airline industry had to create seat belt extensions for
passengers that need a skosh more room to be able to hear the click
of the seat belt.
I
remember my first flight with my Mom & Dad to Raleigh North
Carolina to visit my brother and pick up a new car from him with his
employee discount. I was very nervous, I gripped the armrests, looked
around the sealed fuselage and thought to myself, I have no control
of my destiny. The take-off seemed to stretch out the runway, and as
the lift was attained, I began to sweat, rapid heart rate, nausea. I
was 16.
My
next flight, I was 22 and was going to Princeton, NJ, for training to
begin my career in pharmaceuticals. The same nervousness took over my
body. For the next few years, I flew 2-3 times a year, mostly for
business. We did fly for Disney vacations and award trips, including
Bermuda, Paris, Amsterdam, and most of the 50 states.
Each take-off
and landing was an unsettling experience for me. I actually logged my
take-offs and landings. I took a promotion in sales training, and I
began to fly multiple times a week. After my 300th flight, I figured
I was either going to be okay or not, but I did get acclimated to
flying. I began my napping on planes. I adapted to the point that I
would get in my seat, fall asleep after take-off and wake up just as
the coffee cart reached my aisle. I became a seasoned flyer.
When you
watch a person flying in a movie or television show, they go to the
airport, next scene they are on the plane taking off with some
elevator music playing and then landing and next they are checked
into a posh hotel.
They don’t show the hassle of getting to the
airport on time, which meant 20 minutes ahead of your flight before
911. There was no security screening, carry on anything that fits in
the overhead or under your seat. Today it’s even more of an
adventure, long waits, check your pockets for a pocket knife or
lighter. Please do not leave a gun in your carry-on like my brother
did, which extended his vacation in the local jail, and added $10,000
in legal fees, that was not in his vacation budget.
I
don’t fly much anymore, no business travel, we generally vacation
within a 5-hour drive. Although I became quite comfortable with
flying, the hassle, cost, and now with the Wuhan Virus, flying is
even more uncomfortable. Yes, I am ready to fly again, the views from
the window of the plane give you a different perspective on life, the
planet seems smaller, looking down at cities, mountains, lakes,
oceans are beautiful. I have flown over the Grand Canyon and over the
brush fires in California. But for today, I’m going to take a nice
uneventful nap in my “Comfy Chair!” I think I will ask
Alexa, my personal computer, to play Frank Sinatra’s version of “Fly
Me To the moon!”
###
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