Friday, May 1, 2015

The Fear Of Flying: Guest Post by Christine Collins Cacciatore


   Last year I connected with another blogger in a Facebook group who always made me laugh with her funny status updates and her responses to comments made in our mutual writer's group. We began chatting with each other through private messages, which is how I became better acquainted with today's guest blogger, Christine Collins Cacciatore.

     One evening while we were discussing our worst fears,  I mentioned that I am phobic about flying. Perhaps that's when Christine and I REALLY connected, because once I told her about my bad experiences while flying the not-so-friendly skies, she offered a far more harrowing tale of her own.

     After reading Christine's story on her humor blog, The Life and Times of Poopwa Foley, I begged her to let me share the post on my own blog. This is one of my favorite stories---- I feel her fear in the pit of my stomach every time I read it, yet I can't stop laughing by the way it is written. She turned a terrifying moment into one of humor, and that, folks, is a gift.

     Please welcome Christine to Meno Mama's site today with lots of comment love (but no free airline tickets, mmkay?).




It’s not that I’m scared to fly. I’m just worried the plane will crash while I’m on it.

It was just a thought I had when my husband, daughter, and I started our Florida vacation by flying from Milwaukee to Pensacola with a 2.5 hour layover in Hot-anta. That was bad enough. The fact that we had to drive from Rockford to the Milwaukee airport, park, shuttle to airport, board, deplane, layover, board, deplane, then rent a car and finish the drive to our destination was what made it a little more challenging. By challenging I mean we were tired, cranky, and hungry. We were barely recognizable by the time we got to Grayson Beach, Florida.

After just one spectacular, sunny day on the beach, however, we forgot all about the previous day’s travel difficulties. I forgot how much I hate to fly. After a week of the beach (our friend Captain Morgan was there!) the trip down seemed like a bad dream. A blurry fog. A mere memory!

Until the night before we have to leave, when we realize it’s our last sleep in this beautiful beach house and worse, that the very next day we have to repeat last week’s travel nightmare in order to get home. That’s ok, though, because the flights on the way down were lovely, floaty things. I almost wasn’t scared.

The next day, on the way back home, our second flight is the Atlanta to Milwaukee part. Despite pleading with the gate agent she can’t seat us all together, so my husband is back several rows. I usually break hold his hand while we fly. It’s 10:12 p.m. and I hope to sleep during the flight, but whee! There’s a lightning storm our pilot tries unsuccessfully to avoid and I feel like I’m in a bouncy house. My stomach is in knots. I shoot six drinks in succession but remain stone cold sober.

It was then for some odd reason it feels as if the pilot has hit the brakes. Hard. To say it is unsettling is an understatement, as I would hope there wouldn’t be any red lights or stop signs this high up. We lurch forward in our seats.

Daughter latches on to my arm and says, “Why does it feel like the plane’s slowing down?”

I tell her, “Oh, that’s normal.” She’s unconvinced and gives me the side eye. I curl my lips up in my best recollection of what a reassuring smile looks like but I’m afraid it’s more of a grimace.

After our plane endures another severe shaking, she says, “Are you sure that’s normal?”

I am in a cold sweat but still have the presence of mind to lie to my child. “Yes, of course.” It’s nowhere near normal, as far as I’m concerned. And I’m not sure why we slow down in midair either. I am convinced we’ve been hit by lightning and we’re going down. All I can think about is our drink cart hasn’t even come with the microscopic bags of pretzels and a meager cup of juice, so I’m going to die on an empty stomach…something I vowed I’d never do. I’m freaking out a little bit. Like, “there’s someone on the wing” freaking out.

However, I school my features into confident, soothing mom mode and tell her as long as the flight attendants aren’t worried, we don’t have to be worried either.

It was at that point the pilot makes an announcement over the crackling loudspeaker. “This is your captain speaking. The plane is going down. Please find your seats and buckle up because stuff just got real.”

My husband tells me later that what he actually said was, “Flight personnel, please find your seats because we’re about to encounter some turbulence.” However, between you and me, he never hears things right.

My daughter and I both watch, horrified, as the flight attendant hurtles past us, drink cart rattling, rushing to secure the cart and fasten her seat belt. This isn’t just turbulence. Our plane ride has turned into a hayrack ride on a country road of potholes.

I don’t even want to look at my daughter. I’ve let her down. I finally sneak a peek at her and—you know how horses look when they get scared? You only see the whites of their gigantic eyes, their sides are heaving, their nostrils flaring? Then you have a pretty clear picture of what my daughter’s face looked like at that moment. The Xanax she has washed down with rum does not seem to be helping.

But what an exciting ten minutes followed! I believe that if the Guinness Book of World Records had a category for speed-reciting the Lord’s Prayer, I’d be the record holder. Through the buzzing in my ears I heard someone swearing like a sailor then realize it’s me. My daughter’s fingernails leave gouges in my arm.

Finally, the plane stops rattling. She releases her death grip and pretends to read a book. I am faking sleep and watch her turn pages with shaky hands.

My nerve endings are completely shot.

At last we land safely. I have obviously kept the plane up in the air single handedly with my prayers, although the ungrateful rabble we flew with doesn’t realize it. They are rushing the door to leave like there’s a Black Friday sale on TVs at Walmart and not waiting their turn so that I, their champion plane-keeper-upper, might depart the plane. I am petulant and crabby, naturally. If Bruce Willis had saved their plane, they’d be letting him off first.



Finally, after what feels like forever, my exhausted family is able to get off the plane, collect our luggage and we’re on our way back home. None of us are looking forward to the two hour drive home but we are on the ground and quite frankly, right now there’s nowhere I’d rather be.




***WANT MORE MENO MAMA? This week I was featured on Midlife Boulevard with my post, "The Suburbia of My Childhood." You can read it here: http://midlifeboulevard.com/suburbia-childhood-baby-boomer/




BIO:

Christine Cacciatore is a multi-published author, having four humor stories in four different Not Your Mother’s Book anthologies. She enjoys co-writing romance novels with her sister, Jennifer Starkman; together they have published Baylyn, Bewitched and Cat, Charmed, with the third book Elise, Evermore coming out this winter.


Chris is a three-year board member of the In Print Professional Writer’s Group in Rockford, IL and a proud three year member of the Prompt Club, to which she’s always late. Chris is married to a devastatingly handsome man she met on eHarmony and has three children, a gigantic black dog, and the cutest granddaughter in the world.




36 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh... that was scary and funny at the same time... so glad it all turned out okay...the people on the plane should have been more grateful...lol

    I took a plane from Nova Scotia to Oregon, I'm at my best if I can sleep, that way if the plane goes done... I really have no idea... But nooooo my daughter felt she needed to wake me up to tell me about the extreme turbulance we were encountering. I thanked her profusely for waking me up so I could be concious for my death... haha

    Luckily everything settled down... woo

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    1. I shall endeavor to make sure they all know that I'm actually the one keeping the plane aloft. lol Thanks for reading! :)

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  2. Laughed out loud! So glad I'm taking Amtrak to NYC today.

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    1. Seriously thinking of driving down to Grayton Beach this year, Roz...if I could only convince the hubby!!

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  3. That sounds so scary and hilariously funny at the same time! I just talked my husband into flying next year for the very first time so I am going to hide this story from him!

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    1. Rena, whatever you do, don't let him watch the Discovery Channel show "Why Planes Crash."; you'll never get him on the plane!

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  4. The fear of being out of control is like none other. I loved your interpretation of what the pilot announced

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    1. Carol, I stand by my story...I'm quite positive that's what I heard. I don't get why no one believes me. ;)

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  5. All fearful flyers need to be introduced to my friend, Capt. Tom Bunn, former pilot and now psychologist and head of the best fear of flying course around, SOAR. Go for it!

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    1. Captain Tom sounds good but I had to stick to Captain Morgan last time around. haha

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  6. I will read her post, I will read her post, I will, I will. I'll read it after I have a valium with my martini. That's usually what I have to do to walk that plank into the plane. I don't let it stop me from traveling but it's awful. Believe me when I say, I have left bloody marks by squeezing my husband's hand too hard, while experiencing the wonders of turbulence.

    Anita

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    1. Anita, sad to say I'm all about the drinking when I get on that plane. We practically buy out all the airplane bottles at the grocery stores before we fly. And yet...I remain horrifyingly sober. lol

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  7. I cannot even imagine that! And it's amazing you can still make me laugh while telling that story!

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    1. the best stories are born out of fear sometimes, Joy. I have to give it a couple of weeks before I can turn my white-faced fear into something funny!! Plus, a lot of people are just like me when it comes to flying.

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  8. Whew! I was holding on right there with you! I also hate to fly. The last time my family convinced me to fly was for a trip to Florida. Smooth flights but enough tension for me as it was, kind of like your trip TO your destination. Great story!

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  9. I hope to never experience a flight like that but have to say reading about your flight made me laugh I just wouldn't laugh it happened to me

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    1. I hope you never have a flight like that either...I'm lowering the bar when it comes to flying. Hopefully then I won't be afraid.

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  10. Christine is a very funny lady. I love to read anything she writes. Thanks for sharing this article.

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  11. I fly frequently and always have, and I've got some nightmare stories, but I think Christine has me beat, I've never singlehandedly kept a plane in the air through prayer.

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    1. It's a special talent I have. lol Thanks, Karen!

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  12. OMGOMGOMG!!!!!! I feel so sick right now! Flying is the worst thing ever in the history of life, and trying to fake bravery for our children should win us some kind of presidential medal. Especially considering that many of us are doing so while hepped up on booze and sedatives! Thanks for sharing Christine's words. We should fly together to hold each other's hands.

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    1. Denise, boy oh boy, you said it. We should be seated by level of fear when flying.

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  13. Wonderful story! I love how you heard what the pilot said! I used to fly as part of my job and I can't begin to tell you how grateful I was to the pilot who explained that they slowed the plane down a bit to make the turbulence less rough. I bless him every time a fuselage shakes!

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    1. I can't tell you how happy I am to hear you say that. I think it will make flying a tiny, eensy bit easier from now on.

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  14. Oh my goodness too funny. I am not afraid to fly (It's the claustrophobia I hate) but I have encounted some scary turbulance. Having my daughter on the plane made it better because I was so focused on keeping her calm that I forgot to freak out! Glad the flght turned out ok for you and that you landing in one piece!

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    1. Lisa, me too. And you're right, it helps to concentrate on keeping someone else calm. Makes you worry less! (a little.)

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  15. My husband travels extensively, and even he gets jittery when that severe turbulence appears. It is a very helpless feeling. BUT, the good news is that the pilots are well-trained, and highly motivated I might add, to land safely:)

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  16. Oh I don't know what will happen to me if I'm scared of flying. I work a plane away from home and I love to travel.

    Thanks for sharing this story though. I understand this fear better.

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    1. I look at flying as more of a means to an end, more than anything else...and I have to go again in July! My campaign to drive to Florida from Illinois was met with stony silence. lol

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