Hello everyone and welcome back to another Throwback Thursday! Wait, Thursday? The week moved so fast- kind of like a plane zipping through the sky. Okay, you caught me, I just wanted to make the theme of this post a little less obvious. Today, I’m going to share a couple of plane-related stories.
You see, I’ve flown in planes a lot in my life. My family ended up sleeping in an airport because of blizzards keeping planes grounded. I don’t remember that one, but I was an infant or toddler, so no one should be surprised. It happened when we were going to visit my grandparents for the holidays.
But I haven’t just flown in a plane. I also flew a plane. Well, sort of. When I was turning…thirteen or fourteen, I can’t fully recall… Anyway, on that birthday, my aunt got me a flying lesson. Yes, my aunt thought giving a teenager a flight lesson was smart- and I so thank her for it!
I may be spoiling things for those of you who have flying lessons come up, but there were a few major… ‘mishaps’ during the flight itself. For starters, my best friend at the time came on the plane with me as a passenger, not telling me about her fear of heights. There’s nothing like trying to focus on my teacher’s instructions while there’s a girl screaming in the back while we’re already in the air!
She wasn’t the only scared one though. Apparently, a part of a flight lesson in a small plane includes the teacher turning off the engine to show how the plane glides. It glides, but you could have just told me instead of giving me a panic attack!
That’s not my most irritating story about planes though. My next one is as a passenger, by myself as a teacher. It actually happened before the flying lesson, as this was the flight to stay with my aunt in the first place!
It wasn’t my first time flying as a minor, but naturally, it was my first time sitting next to the person in the aisle seat, a person you don’t even know. As he noticed me, and we greeted properly, his first question was… quite miffed. His question? “You must be Jewish, am I right? You have a big nose, and you’re dressed quite conservatively.”
You heard it, didn’t you? He was automatically stereotyping me. For starters, I didn’t choose this bloody nose that can’t even smell. That said, it’s not even that big to me- you should’ve seen my great grandpa’s! But what really pissed me off was his point as if only Jewish people wear conservative clothing ever. I was wearing conservative clothes because it was chilly and planes get really cold for me. I was trying to stay warm, bastard. Don’t use that to tie up your already damaged recognition.
To be honest, I don’t remember anything else from that flight. I just remember seething all the rest of the way, and trying to pretend he never existed. The worst part, though, was that he was right thanks to stupid stereotypes. Yes, I am technically Jewish. My mother was Jewish, so I’m Jewish. It’s in my blood. But at the time, I didn’t know that. I didn’t know Judaism was half race and half religion. I just knew I didn’t have any interest in the religion part, and didn’t consider myself to be it. So, in a way, he was also wrong. But that he was remotely correct is what bothers me to this day.
So, those are my two stories for you today. You never know what to expect on a plane, do you? That’s why you should always be prepared to deal with rude people, remember the plane will glide so don’t panic if things are shut off, etc.
Do you have any plane related memories that you’d like to share? Please do so in the comments- I’d love to see what to be ready for even further! Let’s all help each other see what can happen, guys!