In the blink of an eye.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
In the Blink of an Eye a brother and sister grow up - Redux
First posted 04/08
1978
1982
1984
2006
2007
2008
In the blink of an eye.
In the blink of an eye.
Fear of Flying - Redux
First posted 07/07
I don't like to fly, but I have two children; one lives in the midwest and one lives on the east coast, and since I live between them, I have no choice. I must overcome my fear of flying if I want to see my kids.
So, I fly. But each time I do, something happens that makes me very anxious. It's always nothing, but I make it into something in my mind, so that by the time I get on the plane I'm out of control with fear. I never show it, though. If you saw me get on a plane you'd think I was just an ordinary person doing what thousands of ordinary people do everyday. But inside, my heart is pounding and I'm a mess.
Here's what happened the last time I went to see my daughter.
I arrived two hours early for my 7AM flight, just like the Department of Homeland Security has advised us to do. Around 6:45 the gate person announced the flight would be delayed for two hours due to mechanical difficulties. I hate it when they tell me that. When they say mechanical difficulties I immediately begin to imagine an engine falling off because an under-paid and over-worked mechanic didn't tighten one screw. Or, the door latch isn't working properly and the door will explode open when we reach cruising altitude immediately sucking out anything and anyone not properly secured.
Of course in my smart mind, I'm hoping it's a broken wheel on the beverage cart, or the toilet is clogged, but it's never that easy in my irrational mind, which takes on a life of it's own, and I can't control the thoughts that form there.
About an hour later we're told the plane actually hasn't even arrived yet because the difficulties happened at another city and our delay would now be another hour. Great, another hour for my mind to imagine all sorts of disasters due to mechanical difficulties. Finally the plane did arrive and unfortunately since I was facing the window, I caught a quick glimpse of it, two propellers and all. Then there was another one hour delay for the "part" to arrive and be installed...food cart wheel, I'm hoping.
At 11AM the gate person said we could board the plane. With all the serious worrying I was doing, I hadn't noticed there were only about 20 people sitting around me waiting to get on my plane. When we boarded, we left the waiting area, walked down the enclosed boarding ramp and out onto the tarmac! I hate it when I have to board a plane that way. I hate to see the plane from the outside. If I only see the inside I can pretend I'm on a bus, but when I've seen it from the outside, two propellers and all, there's no chance of erasing that image from my irrational mind. I reached the stairway of the plane and saw that one propeller was being held in place by a bungee cord attached to the railing of the stairs to the plane. Doesn't that sound sort of crude to you? I mean, come on people, we're in the 21st century here, surely they have ways to keep propellers still with something more high-tech than a bungee cord? Were they afraid it would begin spinning on its own and take off, my mind wondered? See? These are the kinds of thoughts I can't control.
Anyway, I got on the very small plane and found my seat, directly across from the flight attendant. This was a good sign, I thought. I always look to the crew when I panic. They continue to be busy and nonchalant during each bump or strange sound. The flight attendant did the usual "in the case of an emergency" talk and then turned to me and the person sitting across from me and said, "You two are in the emergency seats and will be able to help me if I need you, right?" I didn't realize I was assigned that seat and would never have volunteered for it. I didn't want to make a fuss, because we had waited four hours just to get on the plane, so I kept quiet. We both nodded yes we would help, but my irrational mind was thinking, ah-huh, when hell freezes over.
Anyway, here's the big finish. All our seat belts were properly secured (the bungees were off and the propellers were spinning about two feet from my head outside my window) and we began taxiing down the runway.
It's about here in all my flights when I shut my eyes and pretend to be at peace. Ha! I'm really counting to 300 because I've found that's the number when the take off feeling is over and the plane begins to level off. It was a bumpy take off and I opened one eye to get that visual image of the cool, calm and collected flight attendant so I could get this plane and me off the ground without having a complete breakdown.
But what did I see? I was knee to knee with her (small plane, remember?) and saw that she had grabbed the sides of her seat with both hands. Her eyes were so tightly closed that her face was crunched up and she appeared to be praying! Yeah, praying! Okay sure, she probably wasn't praying and we made it to LaGuardia just fine, but I practically had to fly the plane myself (in my mind, but it's almost the same) because clearly I wasn't getting any help from the flight attendant who never left her seat or looked up from the book she was reading, except when she got on the intercom to tell us she wouldn't be leaving her seat to serve us anything due to the turbulence expected for the entire trip. Amen and Amen.
I don't like to fly, but I have two children; one lives in the midwest and one lives on the east coast, and since I live between them, I have no choice. I must overcome my fear of flying if I want to see my kids.
So, I fly. But each time I do, something happens that makes me very anxious. It's always nothing, but I make it into something in my mind, so that by the time I get on the plane I'm out of control with fear. I never show it, though. If you saw me get on a plane you'd think I was just an ordinary person doing what thousands of ordinary people do everyday. But inside, my heart is pounding and I'm a mess.
Here's what happened the last time I went to see my daughter.
I arrived two hours early for my 7AM flight, just like the Department of Homeland Security has advised us to do. Around 6:45 the gate person announced the flight would be delayed for two hours due to mechanical difficulties. I hate it when they tell me that. When they say mechanical difficulties I immediately begin to imagine an engine falling off because an under-paid and over-worked mechanic didn't tighten one screw. Or, the door latch isn't working properly and the door will explode open when we reach cruising altitude immediately sucking out anything and anyone not properly secured.
Of course in my smart mind, I'm hoping it's a broken wheel on the beverage cart, or the toilet is clogged, but it's never that easy in my irrational mind, which takes on a life of it's own, and I can't control the thoughts that form there.
About an hour later we're told the plane actually hasn't even arrived yet because the difficulties happened at another city and our delay would now be another hour. Great, another hour for my mind to imagine all sorts of disasters due to mechanical difficulties. Finally the plane did arrive and unfortunately since I was facing the window, I caught a quick glimpse of it, two propellers and all. Then there was another one hour delay for the "part" to arrive and be installed...food cart wheel, I'm hoping.
At 11AM the gate person said we could board the plane. With all the serious worrying I was doing, I hadn't noticed there were only about 20 people sitting around me waiting to get on my plane. When we boarded, we left the waiting area, walked down the enclosed boarding ramp and out onto the tarmac! I hate it when I have to board a plane that way. I hate to see the plane from the outside. If I only see the inside I can pretend I'm on a bus, but when I've seen it from the outside, two propellers and all, there's no chance of erasing that image from my irrational mind. I reached the stairway of the plane and saw that one propeller was being held in place by a bungee cord attached to the railing of the stairs to the plane. Doesn't that sound sort of crude to you? I mean, come on people, we're in the 21st century here, surely they have ways to keep propellers still with something more high-tech than a bungee cord? Were they afraid it would begin spinning on its own and take off, my mind wondered? See? These are the kinds of thoughts I can't control.
Anyway, I got on the very small plane and found my seat, directly across from the flight attendant. This was a good sign, I thought. I always look to the crew when I panic. They continue to be busy and nonchalant during each bump or strange sound. The flight attendant did the usual "in the case of an emergency" talk and then turned to me and the person sitting across from me and said, "You two are in the emergency seats and will be able to help me if I need you, right?" I didn't realize I was assigned that seat and would never have volunteered for it. I didn't want to make a fuss, because we had waited four hours just to get on the plane, so I kept quiet. We both nodded yes we would help, but my irrational mind was thinking, ah-huh, when hell freezes over.
Anyway, here's the big finish. All our seat belts were properly secured (the bungees were off and the propellers were spinning about two feet from my head outside my window) and we began taxiing down the runway.
It's about here in all my flights when I shut my eyes and pretend to be at peace. Ha! I'm really counting to 300 because I've found that's the number when the take off feeling is over and the plane begins to level off. It was a bumpy take off and I opened one eye to get that visual image of the cool, calm and collected flight attendant so I could get this plane and me off the ground without having a complete breakdown.
But what did I see? I was knee to knee with her (small plane, remember?) and saw that she had grabbed the sides of her seat with both hands. Her eyes were so tightly closed that her face was crunched up and she appeared to be praying! Yeah, praying! Okay sure, she probably wasn't praying and we made it to LaGuardia just fine, but I practically had to fly the plane myself (in my mind, but it's almost the same) because clearly I wasn't getting any help from the flight attendant who never left her seat or looked up from the book she was reading, except when she got on the intercom to tell us she wouldn't be leaving her seat to serve us anything due to the turbulence expected for the entire trip. Amen and Amen.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Tangerine Tea and Gumdrops Redux
First posted 01/09
I've been in the teaching business for 20+ years and I've seen plenty of funny things, sad things, poignant things, and you know, just........ things.
Due to this vast experience, I'm good at quickly assessing a situation and acting appropriately without ticking off anybody. I'm smooth like that.
But today I guess I just wasn't on my game. While walking through the halls during my free period I noticed a student sitting on the floor outside a classroom. His hoodie covered most of his face and the rest of his head was buried in his knees he had pulled up to his chest and wrapped his arms around.
I always stop to talk to students who seem to be in places they shouldn't be, because you just never know what's up with kids these days.
Our conversation went like this:
Me: Hey, are you okay?
Him: (Slowly looking up from under the hoodie.) Yeah
Me: Do you need anything?
Him: Nope
Me: How about a glass of water...(and in a moment of insanity or stupidity, I said) or a cup of tea?
Him: (Thinking for a micro second) Yeah, a cup of tea would be nice.
Me: Okay
I'm into the Republic of Tea this winter and it just so happened that I brought a few tea bags of my new favorite flavor, tangerine, to school. So, I went to the English department office kitchen and made this kid a cup of tangerine tea.
It was at this moment that my fantasy-camp mind started charging up and I began thinking, who knows, maybe my cup of tea will be the life-changing event for this kid and someday he'll remember what I did for him and thank me on national TV.
Don't judge me...okay? I can't stop the fantasy camp once it gets going.
Anyway, as I made the tea I noticed a dish of gumdrops on the counter, dry and hard and leftover from the holidays, but who cared? This poor kid clearly needed a pick-me-up.
I thought I'll just take a few for him. He seemed like he was having a bad day...and you know, in my mind, the gumdrops would be the icing on the cake. In twenty years he would definitely want to name a building after me.
So out to the hall I went, all pleased with myself and served this kid tangerine tea and gumdrops to make his day a little brighter. 'Cause there's nothing like sugar to put the "bright" in a kid's day.
Please hold your applause until the very end.
I went back to my desk in the English office intent on tackling the mid-terms and mountain of papers I had to grade. Five minutes passed and suddenly the office door flew open and a fellow English teacher with my tea and my gumdrops in his hand literally stomped past me and into the kitchen. He threw the gumdrops in the garbage and tossed the tea in the sink.
Intuitive person that I am, I asked:
Me: Mr. X are you okay? What's wrong?
Mr. X: (Talking between clenched teeth) I threw a kid out of class for totally unacceptable behavior and told him to sit on the floor in the hall for a while. Then some teacher came by and gave him gumdrops and tea!!
Me: (With my best wide-eyed, concerned look thinking, it was TANGERINE tea) Really? Oh gee, Hmmm...
I lowered my head, put pencil to paper as fast as I could and started grading papers with a fury the likes of which I've never done before.
A punch of air filled the office as the door slammed shut.
I've been in the teaching business for 20+ years and I've seen plenty of funny things, sad things, poignant things, and you know, just........ things.
Due to this vast experience, I'm good at quickly assessing a situation and acting appropriately without ticking off anybody. I'm smooth like that.
But today I guess I just wasn't on my game. While walking through the halls during my free period I noticed a student sitting on the floor outside a classroom. His hoodie covered most of his face and the rest of his head was buried in his knees he had pulled up to his chest and wrapped his arms around.
I always stop to talk to students who seem to be in places they shouldn't be, because you just never know what's up with kids these days.
Our conversation went like this:
Me: Hey, are you okay?
Him: (Slowly looking up from under the hoodie.) Yeah
Me: Do you need anything?
Him: Nope
Me: How about a glass of water...(and in a moment of insanity or stupidity, I said) or a cup of tea?
Him: (Thinking for a micro second) Yeah, a cup of tea would be nice.
Me: Okay
I'm into the Republic of Tea this winter and it just so happened that I brought a few tea bags of my new favorite flavor, tangerine, to school. So, I went to the English department office kitchen and made this kid a cup of tangerine tea.
It was at this moment that my fantasy-camp mind started charging up and I began thinking, who knows, maybe my cup of tea will be the life-changing event for this kid and someday he'll remember what I did for him and thank me on national TV.
Don't judge me...okay? I can't stop the fantasy camp once it gets going.
Anyway, as I made the tea I noticed a dish of gumdrops on the counter, dry and hard and leftover from the holidays, but who cared? This poor kid clearly needed a pick-me-up.
I thought I'll just take a few for him. He seemed like he was having a bad day...and you know, in my mind, the gumdrops would be the icing on the cake. In twenty years he would definitely want to name a building after me.
So out to the hall I went, all pleased with myself and served this kid tangerine tea and gumdrops to make his day a little brighter. 'Cause there's nothing like sugar to put the "bright" in a kid's day.
Please hold your applause until the very end.
I went back to my desk in the English office intent on tackling the mid-terms and mountain of papers I had to grade. Five minutes passed and suddenly the office door flew open and a fellow English teacher with my tea and my gumdrops in his hand literally stomped past me and into the kitchen. He threw the gumdrops in the garbage and tossed the tea in the sink.
Intuitive person that I am, I asked:
Me: Mr. X are you okay? What's wrong?
Mr. X: (Talking between clenched teeth) I threw a kid out of class for totally unacceptable behavior and told him to sit on the floor in the hall for a while. Then some teacher came by and gave him gumdrops and tea!!
Me: (With my best wide-eyed, concerned look thinking, it was TANGERINE tea) Really? Oh gee, Hmmm...
I lowered my head, put pencil to paper as fast as I could and started grading papers with a fury the likes of which I've never done before.
A punch of air filled the office as the door slammed shut.
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