The Window Seat

I was so disappointed this past weekend when every seat I had on my to and from flight to Chicago was the emergency exit. I mean sure, the extra leg room is nice and the easy access to the bathroom is nice too; but nice enough to give up a view for? At 5’4 on my tallest of days, I think I would still take the window seat over any other seat on the plane. Yes, I know, statistically if you were to survive a plane crash, the aisle seat on an emergency exit in the front is your best bet. And of course I would much rather prefer first class than any window seat, but not this time my friends. Thanks to Jason’s priority access (fancy boy) we were upgraded to first class but in different seats. No problem, right? Either the person sitting next to me would move or vice versa. What are the odds both neighboring passengers to 1E and 3A would not want to move??? Only on an unlucky flight would that have happened. And yes my friends it happened to us. So what did we do? We gave up our first class seats apart for emergency row exit seats together.

Crazy in love? Maybe.

Neurological nervous passenger on flight that thinks because the toilet is leaking and the plane is 10 minutes behind schedule that these are “signs” to take the next flight? Abso-freaking-lutely

So instead of getting off the plane and taking the next unjinxed flight to Miami, Jason decided to give up our first class complimentary seats for the sake of calming my fears and sitting next to me on the flight home, food-less, drink-less, leatherseat-less, in coach.

I could not help but wonder what happened to the child in us during flights who would stare out that tiny lil window in bewilderment as we saw the World becoming smaller and smaller as we got higher and higher. I remember when I was 6 I was so nervous to fly because I wondered how the pilot would maneuver his way around the clouds. I mean after all, they were made of marshmallow so what would happen if we ran into them? Bounce off into space? I also remember looking out the window and looking up and thinking that if only the pilot veered the nose a bit more upward, we'd be in outer space in seconds. I remember that on every flight I took back to Miami, I would look for the landmarks close to my house and then try to pinpoint my roof. I remember wondering who in the world was able to make the streets so perfectly straight and the massive plots of land so perfectly square. I remember loving the feeling of going to the airport; the smell of the airport was something I could bottle up and smell forever. I remember wondering how on Earth so many different people had to go to so many different places at the same time and how this was the same case 365 days of the year. I remember when my Uncle Juan told me you could buy life insurance at airports from vending machines for 10 cents so it would calm any sudden fears I got. I remember loving and anticipating when people would burst into applause when the plane touched down on the ground.

No one applauds anymore. Instead we look and judge every person that walks onto the plane, we wonder, 'I hope the security looked into that bag or did a strip search because he/she looks suspicious.' Now they don't even give us honey roasted peanuts as a pre-snack before our microwaved mini meals. Now the airport is more of a hassle than of an excitement because you know your gonna have to take off your shoes, hope they don’t throw away your mini bottle of lotion, and wait for your 'zone' to be called. I appreciate the safety standards, I know they are necessary but I wish it all didn’t have to come down to this. Maybe sometime in the future the airport will be an enjoyable experience again like it used to be. Instead of worrying who's on our plane and what may happen, we wonder how a gazillion pound vehicle goes from ground to flight in a split second. It still bewilders me. I dont even try to think of the fact that we are flying because it really is that mind boggling to me. I love that sense of wonder and awe; I wish I could reproduce it and give it away to the World like candy.

One thing that remained constant though is the mini millisecond (ok fine. more like 30 minutes) of fear we all get at one point during the plane ride. When the plane makes a sudden drop, or we hear a strange sound, or how about that moment when they seem to completely turn off the engine(they need to do something about that. geez)? I’ve realized that I don’t fear death anymore(maybe a leeetle). I learned that while on the plane. I remember one time when the turbulence was intense, the rain was pouring, and we had been at the gate for an hour before take off for 'safety issues', the plane made a sudden drop and I thought 'okay. this is fine. I've lived a wonderful life. God, I know your ready for me so I guess im ready for you'. Thankfully it was a false alarm but it really made me think and appreciate that I am at a point where death doesn't scare me. I think its good to think about that from time to time, to analyze if you could peacefully pass on to the next life or if there are some things you'd really like to do before going. Okay, morbid talk. I’m only 25, but still..never too late or too soon to start doing the things you know you need to do..have to do.