As my faithful readership knows, I'm a nervous flyer. I'm not terrified of flying - I'll do it, but I'm not a fan.
A dose of calm-me-down medication gets me through the experience while aiming to avoid conversations around tricky flights people have had - that just feeds my imagination.
On a plane back to Palmerston North from Auckland last week we had a pilot announcement that didn't help.
Post safety briefing, we were loaded and ready to go when the pilot announced, "There'll just be a slight delay - we have a fault with the right engine".
Gulp!
This elicited a panic attack from a girl in front of me and a nervous reaction from a first-time flyer who was sitting behind me with her mum (who remained calm I must say).
The young cabin attendant responded to the panic attack girl's call button request for assistance with a glass of water and a phrase she was obviously hoping would calm the girl. With a chuckle she said, "Just remember - we're much safer on the ground than we are in the air".
I swear I'm not making this stuff up.
I managed to keep reading my book and shrug it off. It's rilly good calm-me-down medication!!
Love and peace - Wozza