Painted Into A Corner

A few weeks ago I was watching a documentary about United Flight 1549 landing on the Hudson River in New York. I was surprised that it hit me emotionally, considering I knew the ending, but as I was watching I began to wonder, just how would I react to such an emergency? You never really know until you’re actually faced with it. We’d all like to think we’d rise to the occasion, and not be the chucklehead that reaches for their carry-on luggage, or puts their life jacket on upside down. When I saw the picture of that guy I thought, “Yep, that would be me.” I pay attention, but I wish they would put those things closer to hand. It’s under the seat! My feet barely reach the floor. You truly think my arms are going to be able to search under the seat for that thing?! By the time I find it, I’ll be in a full out panic, so yes, it will probably be on upside down! Don’t judge me! By following along with the flight attendant, repeating the same emergency instructions we hear on every flight, I at least know where it’s at, and what to do in theory! The rest of you are in full out denial that anything might happen. I can tell by the fact that you continue your conversations, or reading your book, or whatever you can to pretend that landing on the Hudson is not a possibility in your world. Landing on the Hudson isn’t a possibility in my world either, but landing on the Atlantic, or the Gulf could very well be.

I got to thinking, just what would I do? What would I take with me? My phone immediately came to mind. Since I stow that in my bag underneath the seat, not in the seat back pocket, I’d imagine in a crash that bag might no longer be where I left it. And if it is, what good is a waterlogged phone going to do me? Considering women’s clothing is short on pockets, just where would I be putting it? In my hand, where my only option would be to use it as a paddle? I don’t think Apple designed the iPhone for that.

And now here is another problem. Without our phones we’d have to find one and make a call, but when was the last time you actually dialed a number? The fact that I used the word “dial” tells you exactly how long it’s been. We don’t know anyone’s number! We program numbers into our phone, scroll to their name when we need them, and click on it. Magic! No need to memorize anything, until you don’t have your precious phone. Hopefully you have at least your spouse, one of your kids, a sibling, mom, dad, or anyone memorized, or you are flat out of luck. Call 911. They like that sort of thing….not!  Give them the name of the person you are looking for. They have their ways of finding people, and then they’ll get back to you for abusing the system.

The final riddle…how to get your loved ones to answer a call from a number they don’t recognize?! That’s right! You never answer a call from a number you don’t know. We’ve had that drilled into us by the media, our family, friends, strangers even. It’s probably a scammer looking for a backdoor into your private information. So, we just don’t do it. We tell ourselves, if it’s important they will leave a message, but how long does it take for us to check? I could be standing on the shore of the Gulf coast somewhere, dripping wet, life jacket upside down around my neck, stranger’s phone in hand, and my husband, kids, or sisters check the incoming number, swear about another scam caller, and ignore!

Yes, my friends, we have painted ourselves into a fine corner! Now what to do about it? I don’t know! Why do I always have to do the heavy lifting? I’m certainly going to do some serious thinking about it. You don’t have to be in anything so dramatic as a plane crash for this scenario to fit your situation. If you come up with a solution, sing out! I know, my kids are rolling their eyes, “You worry about everything Mom.” Well, somebody has to! You’re welcome.