February 9th 2012
One Pen Ma
Steven Ma
Fear of Flying
Even as I wrote this essay, I was enroute flying to Hangzhou. Fingers counting, could not remember the number of times I have flown inside an airplane. And most of them for business purposes. But friends who know me well are aware my dislike for flying. To be more specific, my fear of flying.
Many years ago, once flying from Taipei to Kaohsiung on a small airplane, and a small propeller aircraft, at that. Frankly, there's basically nothing to fear but unfortunately halfway in its flight the airplane encountered a serious turbulence. It shook violently and relentlessly, and moreover, with sharp lifts and drops, truly scared me to death...I could only close my eyes, and prayed in my heart for this to pass quickly. Another time was this long distance flight to US, (the airplane) also encountered a serious turbulence and I could even clearly see the flashing lightnings and torrential rain outside... like before I could only close my eyes and pray ceaselessly in my heart, hoping to come out of it safely.
People will pass away from this world one day, and I was never one to be afraid to die. But to be seated inside an airplane without even given a chance to escape, that's what I cannot accept. Of course, nowadays, the rate of airplane accidents is less than road accidents, so truly no need to be scared. But my two experiences have truly made me fearful. (of flying)
No comments:
Post a Comment