I love flying. Not as a pilot. I’m just a passenger – an economy passenger – but I love to fly.
I’ve got quite addicted to take-offs, landings, and great views from on high. And it’s the most fun when someone else is paying for it, of course. That only adds to the feeling that I can count myself lucky whenever I fly. Doesn’t always work, though. I have to pay for my own holiday flights, obviously. But sometimes I can fly for my work, and I enjoy those trips even more. Flying and being paid to do so is great!
But there are disadvantages, too. There always are. Every advantage has a disadvantage, or so they say. (Who’s “they”? I haven’t a clue. But it’s what “they” say, so I just quote my source as being “they”.)
Take jet-lag, for instance. Not so bad when you’re going west and gaining time, but it can be very tiring to go east. It always robs me of my general feeling of well-being, and gives me that rare zombie-like quality that I only get when I’ve been deprived of a lot of sleep, or when I’ve been flying east for thousands of miles. Or both, which is worse. A lot worse.
Anyway, one time I took a long trip by air, I discovered a whole new way to fly. I’d already left the plane and the airport. (So it’s not what you may think.) I had checked into my hotel in Salt Lake City, and was having a walk in the pleasant evening air. Of course, I was jet-lagged and tired. But that didn’t stop me from having a brisk walk – a very brisk walk. In fact, I was going at quite a pace. And then my foot had a disagreement with an uneven section of the concrete pavement (“sidewalk”, if we’re going to get this geographically and culturally correct – after all, I was in the United States at the time). Since I was walking fast, this sent me … flying. I have no other word for it. But it wasn’t the flying that was the problem. It was the landing. Since, contrary to airplanes – which have landing gear and all that – I had nothing to roll along the pavement with (the sidewalk, sorry – I keep reverting back to the Queen’s English, old habits die hard), I landed on the concrete with a big thud, and then, due to my speed, slid on for a distance.
You will understand that this is not a very healthy thing to do. It didn’t really help the condition of my trousers (or pants, if you will), nor did it much good for my leg and knee. Big, deep wound – and very dirty. Now, I have relatives in that city. In-laws, to be precise. Not that this difference matters to me. Family is family … But, anyway, my brother-in-law had some kind of prickly fluid that cleaned out my wound quite nicely, and even removed dead skin cells in the process. But a day and an x-ray later I was walking with a walking-stick (okay, a cane – I was going to stay with the local lingo, right?). Not a nice way to see Salt Lake City, I can tell you that! I had had plans to rent a car and see the state on my weekends off (they can make me work over there, but they can’t take away my weekends off!), but my leg just wouldn’t cooperate. I spent more time in my hotel room than I had planned. But I saw a lot of Law & Order re-runs – I suppose one has to see the advantages to everything. And on my flight back I got a lot of consideration from the flight attendants (does anyone know what happened to that good old term “stewardesses”?) and other passengers – it does help when you walk in, looking like a cripple!
Anyway, what’s my point? Good question. Should there be a point to a blog?
Well, I suppose I could argue that there are different ways of flying and landing, and that one is more pleasant than the other. Yes. Sounds good. Let’s stick to that conclusion.
So if you’re flying – be careful how you land! And have a good flight…
