mark weber | very fast then up

VERY FAST THEN UP

I will never understand how
100 or 200 people can sit on an airplane hurtling down
a runway at 170 miles an hour reading a newspaper

.

Not one of them seems concerned or interested
that we’re jamming at high speed and about
to lift off into the air

.

Turn on a television set to a bunch of guys running
around fighting over a football and they are
at the height of attention, completely engrossed

.

I always take a window seat
but, during lift-off I like to stare straight ahead
allowing my peripheral vision to sense the outside
as I watch and feel the fuselage vibrating, the
wheels bounding and digging the rubber in

.

At first, I thought maybe my fellow passengers
were playing nonchalant with their newspapers
endeavoring to disguise their nerves

.

This doesn’t appear to be the case
They genuinely find their newspapers more interesting
than
the fact that a mere 80 years ago and for thousands of
years before that, this flying thing would have
been a miracle

.

And in fact, is a miracle, really.

Mark Weber | 25aug11

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