On average, over 80,000 passengers board on commercial planes each day, in hopes to get to their destinations. And of those 80,000, I'm sure the majority would tell you that traveling in the big metal bird on the sky is not the highlight of their venture. I being one of those few select people that love to travel by air will never understand but can empathize with those who are anti-air travel. Being that my mom is a huge opposer to this type of travel, I have heard many of the reasons why air travel isn't enjoyable. While some of them are liable excuses, others are just plain outrageous and I'm here to help you deal with both and help you enjoy your air travel better.
1.) The plane could crash - Yes the plane could crash. But you could have also choked on a sandwich and ended your life while waiting in the gate area. You could have tripped and hit your head just right to have brain hemorrhage and die. You could have crashed while driving to the airport. There is likelihood in dying from even everyday situations, an to stress about all of them would be mentally crippling. One of the biggest reasons people fear riding an airplane is due to a phenomenon called the availability heuristic. It is the human tendency to draw judgement from what we have been repeatedly exposed to, therefore drawing from those memories when assessing a situation. It's no secret that plane crashes make huge headlines and catch your attention each time, but this does not change the fact that plane crashes are extremely rare! Car accidents kill exponentially more people each day than plane crashes, but since we don't hear about every crash in the news, we don't see driving as a bigger threat. The same goes for getting eaten by a shark or struck by lightning. Possible yes, but much less likely than many of the things we do on a daily basis. Even in the nearly impossible chance that you were to crash, your airplane is equipped to deal with the pressure of crashing and supplying you with the necessary supplies to survive in every situation. And remeber that the technology of aviation has been under study for centuries, and if it wasn't safe for citizens, it wouldn't be in effect today, especially on the scale it takes place in today.
2.) Kids. Just kids. Understandable. As adorable as they can be, you can sometimes be left dumbfounded at how much sound can be produced from such a little creature. Although there is no way to practically predict and prevent staying near a child during your flight, there are still easy ways to deal with sitting next to a loud child. First of all, don't project your anger towards the parent. They're probably just as bothered if not more by the child and are aware that other passengers are annoyed by their child. It isn't fair to blame them for a situation they can't control and are already stressed by. The amazing invention of earbuds are extremely useful for this situation, and playing some soothing music can help cancel out the sleep preventing noise eminating from the child. Try to to ignore the noise and put your exhausted self to sleep. But if you're the one with children, that's a whole different blog post.
3.) Airplane food is gross. Let me introduce this tip by pointing out that I don't believe airplane food is as bad as everyone makes it out to be. I can honestly never remember a meal I've eaten on flight that made me lose my appetite. In fact getting to eat an optionally diverse tray of food on a convenient and cute little mini table that opens in front of you, while flight attendants attend to your every need IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SKY has always been one of my favorite quirks about air traveling. I realize however that most everyone inhabiting this planet disagrees with me and that food preferences differ from person to person. What people tend to forget when complaining about food in air travel is that airports are virtually mini cities, in that you can find most of the stores you see in your hometown mall within the complex and food stores are no exception. After your security screening, you are free to purchase and consume from any of the mini restaurants and are allowed to take anything you want with you on flight.As long as you set aside some time to wait in line and get your food, you can board your plane confidently knowing that if you happen to find the food served on the plane not so good, you'll always have the McDonald's/Panera/Starbucks to turn to in your time of need.
Hope your nerves have settled a bit about traveling via airplane and also hope I helped you get excited about getting on the plane and enjoying the journey as much as your destination.
Thanks for reading!
Taz
No comments:
Post a Comment