I am no aviator. There is nothing about flying that I have ever enjoyed–ever. With typical trips I avoid flying by declaring any point in the contiguous U.S. a manageable drive, but when faced with the possibility of international travel without a spare month or two for an ocean voyage, the jig was up.
It wasn’t even the flying that scared me; two evils lurked in my mind. If I get on that plane for a trans-Atlantic flight, I give up my power to leave the situation at will–at least legally, safely and with a shred of sanity remaining. Plus, I am a menopausal woman who will have no control over the thermostat. There is no way for this to end well.
I know there are some (namely my spouse) who will not see these two reasons for questioning the flight plan as valid. I know this because he has enlightened me. After thanking him for sharing his two-cents’ worth, I pointed out this opinion amounts to two cents because, just as he was never asked to pass eight pounds of another human being through any of his body cavities, he will also never experience a hormonal change that will increase his core body temperature to 115 degrees and then wrap it in extra poundage to insure it remain well insulated.
This flight was something I had to do for me. I took that important first step… I visited my doctor telling her I would need sedation. She thought about the dosage, mentioning how lovely it is descending into Paris. Apparently, my request was not transparent enough. I held up my hand as if to measure medication levels saying, “This is drooling on myself .” Placing my other hand beneath it so that the two hands touched, I continued, “This is where I want to be.”
Armed with my five highly addictive happy pills, I set off for my big adventure, flying first to Chicago and then to Paris. I did the entire trip on half a tablet. Somehow, knowing I had the power to calm myself if I needed to was enough to keep me calm. I walked off that plane of my own volition at a time determined appropriate by the flight crew. The least they could have done was give me a set of those cool plastic wings.
Hello, my name is May, and I am a hormonal mess. ~ Prompt #3
