Fear of Flying

You never know who you're going to be sitting next to on an airplane flight. While waiting at the gate, I see boisterous children, overweight people, sickly people, etc. On a recent trip, a lady sat next to me coughing during the flight. She apologized and said she'd been to the doctor and it was only allergies. Okay. Then, on the return flight, the young woman next to me was freaking out while the plane was taking off. She was grasping the armrests, tightening her legs and mumbling under her breath all while wearing sunglasses. I noticed she had bad teeth and thought she might be under the influence of crystal meth. I started wondering what she was going to do next--vomit, jump out of her seat or what? So, I touched her arm and asked if she was okay. She said she hated flying, especially the take-off. So, I tried to reassure her that it would be fine and we'd be in the air shortly. Once we were in flight, she was okay and ordered a vodka and OJ. I was wondering if that was going to be okay in her case. Then, when we got ready to land, she reacted the same way. I opened the shade and tried to talk to her to keep her mind off the situation. She told me she was going to see her brother graduate from Emery-Riddle and he was going to be a pilot. He wanted to take her up in a small plane, but she refuses. She needs a lot more practice. Once we landed, she said she wanted to kiss the ground and thanked me for helping her through it. I can't imagine being afraid to fly. It's an amazing technology.