Please excuse the finger on the lens...but I was just a little concerned about my flight since I had not flown in over 30 years...oh....except once in '95 when I had to fly to Europe. But that is an entirely different experience in itself.
This is where it all started....Notice the very busy action of the feet....I was just sitting anxiously in the airport waiting to board my flight trying to remain calm and I put my life in God's capable hands as usual....then.....I noticed a lady sitting relatively close with West Virginia printed on her carry on.....I had to make mention of it and we talked. And then it was time to board. My number was before hers so I got in line first. It was not too long before I was picking out a seat on the plane. There was a guy seated next to the window and I sat one seat over in the aisle seat because I figured....knowing me....I would be going to the ladies room, maybe even more than once....during this flight.
Seats were narrowing down and I saw this lady I had been talking to from West Virginia board and I told her she could sit by me if she wanted....She did and we talked and kept each other calm as she does not care to fly either. I found out her name was Janet and her husband was employed at WVU in Morgantown WV. We were talking and laughing and having fun. Everyone around us was kind of just sitting there....or sleeping....or being dull. I waited patiently to maybe purchase an alcoholic beverage in the form of an imported beer during the ride, which of course they did not have, so I passed and drank what soda they gave me or water, I do not even remember now.
By this time Janet was getting rather airsick to her stomach and she managed to not want any of the cookies I had brought on board but she ate the little cracker things they passed out...all 1 ounce of them or maybe it was 2 ounces....it was so tiny I thought "Really! What was the point!" But Janet seemed to need more so I gave her mine as well....and that actually got her through the trip. She had a clear soda also to calm her stomach.
She enjoyed looking out the window, which is something I did not plan on even thinking about doing. The thought of it was not a good impression in my mind, but after we both got more comfortable talking and having fun, I finally looked out the window every once in awhile just to do it and get over my fear.
When the steward eventually came around to bring us drinks we were happy to get something to quench our thirst. Then of course they came on and said that we were encountering some turbulence. That made the attendants sit down and there were no drinks to be served to us until the ride got settled down.
Okay now, they did not have any kind of beer that I would enjoy and now I got nothing at all. This did not keep us from having some chuckles to calm ourselves down. When the flight attendant did come back around with drinks, he said that we were having entirely too much fun for a 6 AM flight. I proceeded to tell him that we were probably the most uncomfortable people on the plane and this is how we handle it. He was impressed.
It had to happen eventually and now was the time. I saw people going to the water closets they provided on board and I now had to try them for myself. I stood up out of my seat and walked up the aisle to the door. Once inside I found it to be quite uncomfortably small but I managed. When I was almost done and could figure out next how to wash my hands, the door flung wide open!!!!!!....Much to my chagrin I reached out with the one hand that I was not pulling my pants up with, and grabbed the door and pulled it shut once again. While the door was open however, I did manage to see that the flight attendants could not see me. And neither could the passengers see anything but my arm flying out of the door after the door had opened and grabbed it back shut.
While I was so very happy that no one could see me with my pants down, I was still embarrassed of course and probably blushing when I finally got back to my seat.
There was Janet lhao as they say in text land. She told me she knew it was going to happen eventually because the light saying occupied never came on. She knew that the door had not properly shut or locked or something and was just sitting there laughing and waiting to see the event that followed concerning the door.
I told her how happy I was that SHE WAS HAVING SUCH A GOOD TIME AT MY EXPENSE….But I really did not care and we laughed plenty more.
We were finally nearing our destination. I knew we were because she had been telling me about where we were, by what the terrain looked like out the window the entire trip. Once again I was looking out the window.
This was getting to be rather not bad. Then we began to circle and descend. This was the end of my happiness. The landing gear came down and I always hated that but I was still doing okay because we were talking and I was distracted. Then it happened. The whole plane started to shake, badly. The plane shaking was like something I had never experienced on a plane. I thought it was going to fall apart.
Now mind you I was not afraid. I did not think we were going to die. But for some reason I believed the plane was literally going to fall to pieces. It was shaking so hard. But it was shaking like back and forth from left to right. At least it seemed that way to me. When the pilot got the plane stopped from the landing, the entire plane applauded... I was dumbfounded by the applause but so very glad to now understand that this was something that was not normal and yet it seemed that this happened once in awhile because these people were not shaken up. They were just rewarding the pilot with their praise for getting it done with everyone still in tact, including the plane.
This is of course what I told absolutely everyone I saw about for the next two days. I just kept repeating the story. I had to get used to it I guess. I kissed the ground when I was on it again as you can see.
I may never see Janet again but it was certainly a good experience for me, only because she was seated next to me on that plane. And, I believe her to be one of God's angels for my flight. Thank you God....for Janet.
