Airplanes

On my trip to Alaska, I was waiting in the terminal for the flight to board. I was there hours before the flight was going to take off. With all the security measures, I guess it’s important to get there early. As the plane was about to board, I noticed many of the passengers standing, waiting, and very eager to get on the plane. I noticed people getting more and more nervous waiting for their row to be called. I began to wonder why people were so eager to get onto a plane. Personally, I didn’t care if I was first or last on the plane. What did it matter? I wasn’t going to get to Alaska any faster. Why did those people need to be the first on the plane? Just imagine. You’re standing, waiting, eager to get on the plane. You made it.  You are the first person on the plane. You quickly find your seat, stow your belongings and buckle your seat belt. Now, you still have to wait for every single passenger to get on the plane before you can leave. What was the point of rushing and raising your blood pressure?

Well, I began to think about why they actually feel this way. I tried to put myself actually into their shoes. I can imagine that when they got on the plane and found their seat that they felt secure. Why? Well, most people are a little nervous about flying. Whether it be the plane crashing, a canceled flight, gate change, lay over, lost ticket, security check, claustrophobia, baby crying or whatever. Everyone is probably a little nervous whether they realize it or not, probably because flying is out of our control. When you travel somewhere by car you are generally in control of your vehicle, however, you aren’t in control of the drivers around you. The feeling of being in control of at least our own vehicle gives us satisfaction. The fact that people have no control over the other drivers actually makes it way more dangerous than flying. When flying, someone else is in control and I think that makes people nervous. I think we live in a society that teaches us to be in control, or at least attempt to be in control at all times. The passengers trying to get on the plane as fast as they can are attempting to be in control of the situation.

People are also nervous because they want to get where they are going. Of course getting on the plane doesn’t get them there any faster; however, their job is done. They have done all that they could do to get there. “I’m on the plane. There is nothing else I can do to get there any faster.” I think this comes from society’s rush, rush, rush mentality. People need to learn to enjoy the journey as well as the destination. If we can enjoy the time it takes to get somewhere and enjoy the place we traveling to then we can double our enjoyment. Many times we are just moving to the next destination to try and find happiness but we never get there. We end up in constant motion searching for the next place when in essence we can be happy in the here and now throughout our journey of life.