Darn first plane ride jitters

Andrea Engle
Features Editor

My heart is beating fast, I can barely breathe, all I can think about is once I board this plane there is no turning back.

As I am going to get on the plane, freaking out, I reach into my coat pocket and cannot find my ID. I was next in line and stepped out of line as everyone in my group boarded the plane. I frantically went over to where I was seated and could not find it anywhere. The lady calling for the plane told me not to worry and to just take my time, as she called for the last boarding call. I started to sob, and she told me not to worry, I still had 15 minutes. I did not need my ID to board the plane but I did need it get on the plane ride home. Finally I took one last reach into my pocket and my ID was stuck to my phone. With only a few minutes to spare I got on the plane even thought I was holding tears back and was really nervous.

When on the plane, we had to wait 15-30 minutes until the plane took off. I was sitting next to my friend Matthew Mohrbach and he could tell I was really nervous, so he gave me the window seat which made me feel a lot better. Then, while we were switching seats, we both hit our heads on the luggage compartments over the top of us. The sound over the P.A. system dinged, and the flight attendant started to speak about what to do in case of an accident. At this time I was shaking, and the plane crashing in the Hudson River continues going through my mind. She finally tells us to buckle our seat belts and we begin to take off. At this time I am way too nervous to read, but I started looking for my gum that everyone told me I would have to chew or my head would explode from the pressure. Of course, I could not find my gum anywhere, so Matt offered me his last piece in his pack of gum. I started to chew it and everything was okay, until I swallowed it right before the plane started to take off. As we take off, I just watch out the window, doing everything I can to pop my ears and trying to talk to everyone, but they were reading. I just nervously enjoyed the view out of my window and tried to remain cool, calm, and collected.

Once we were in the air and able to move around, Matt moved to a different seat and left me alone for the rest of the plane ride. Other than a few bumps, which felt like riding over potholes in a car, it was not that bad. I was still extremely nervous, because I ate a whole pack of Starbursts and a half a pack of Girl Scout cookies in a half an hour. As I sit there, I talk to Clifford Anthony, my advisor, and my friend Christina Vasquez. After a little bit, I looked back out the window and saw the beautiful skyline of New York City, realizing that the plane was going to land soon. I realized we were about to descend, that dreaded sound came on the P.A. system again telling us to fasten our seat belts and that we would be landing in approximately 15 minutes.

As we land, the plane tips from side to side and I feel like I am going to crash into the ground one moment, and the next moment I feel like I am going to fall out of my seat into the row across from me. I see why seat belts are mandatory on planes, so that you stay in your seat. As we are landing, it is dark out and I cannot see anything outside the windows. As we are coming up on the airport, all I see are lights in the Hudson River. At this point I am thinking, “Oh great, we are landing in the river, what is going on.” I’m so nervous and I hear a loud thump. Finally the plane glides to the ground and the P.A. system says that the plane has landed at LaGuardia airport in New York.

As we get off the plane, we exited on the ground and through a tunnel into the airport, which I did not expect. As we get to the baggage claim to claim our bags, I found my bag had been beat up and a wheel had fallen off. All I could think to myself was about how I paid $15 to get this bag on the plane and it comes back ruined. We spent five days in New York City, and as I was getting ready leave, I thought I should get some duct tape to repair my luggage. The duct tape was $10 for one roll; what a rip off, I had to pay $15 to check my bag twice making it $30 and $10 to fix my bag, so I wasted $40.

The trip back was just fine, I was not as nervous; in fact I slept the whole way home. Like they say, New York is the city that never sleeps.