"Fasten your seat belts." You must have heard that at least twice as many times as you have taken a flight on an airplane, in your life. But that doesn't even account for 0.01 percent of the times I must have repeated it to passengers myself during my career as a flight attendant and it just seems like some of you think we are somewhat stupid for asking you to do so because seat belts are for infants, right? Well, here's the thing. On an airplane that flies at 35000-40000 feet above the ground against the wind and unforeseen weather and circumstances, everyone is an INFANT! As much as you would like to believe that your body is strong enough to resist impact, guess what, you don't even know what an impact is. It's faster than you think. Faster than you think? It occurs faster than your brain has the time to process what just happened and even start to move a limb in order to do something for yourself. At that moment, if you don't have your seat-belt on, you'll probably go smash your head on the next hardest thing, no matter how far it looks to you right now. Believe me, that doesn't even matter. And, if you still manage to survive the blow and live on to tell the tale, you'll probably be wishing for the rest of your life that you had listened to that flight attendant that one time in your life and not treated her like she is just some robotic device, coming around muttering some inconsequential words that she's just used to harping all the time. Let me tell you I never once got tired of harping those words incessantly, during my flying career, simply because I know their significance.
I have encountered some form of severe turbulence numerous times while flying and that's not even the worst thing that can happen to you in mid-air. Now my purpose for writing this piece is not to create a phobia of flying in your minds. No, but my idea is to increase your awareness and make you safe flyers. Next time listen to that flight attendant when she tells you something. She/he knows something that you don't.
I think it's worth a mention that I had a terrible car accident myself at one point. I know what you're thinking now. "Car accident? Thought she was talking about planes." Don't worry. The reason I mention that is because I want you to understand something. A car is like an infant as compared to a plane, with a much smaller engine, much less fuel capacity, much less number of dangerous projectiles and elements that can hurt you. Now if I had suffered the same impact on a plane, I can tell you that I wouldn't be sitting here and typing this for you today. And now you'll wonder, "What happened to the seat-belt? Huh?" It wasn't my car and whoever's car it was thought it's not important to have seat-belts for those seated at the back so they had been removed or hidden somewhere. I never quite understood why some people do that.
Needless to say, at that point I was most uncomfortable in that situation because I never sit in anything that moves without having my seat-belt on. So this driver was driving at break neck speed and that made me even more uncomfortable. I kept trying to ask him to slow down, but something was up with him. He just wouldn't slow down. I knew in my guts, something horrible was going to happen that day. It was early in the morning, not another car on the streets. Soon, before I knew what happened, the driver lost control of the wheels and the car crashed into a road divider. My head hit the top of the drivers seat back and the skin had split open until my skull was bare and visible in that part of my head. Half my face was covered in blood and my shirt was drenched in blood. All of this happened within a split second. There was no time to even think. I hope you understand what that means now. I never went unconscious. I had been absolutely alert and holding on tightly onto something because of the lack of the much needed seat-belt, but this was inevitable. At the time of an impact the most alert person cannot protect themselves, if they are not wearing a seat-belt. Please understand the gravity of what I am saying.
I still have a scar that sits there on my forehead and it also altered my hairline slightly reducing the symmetry of my face. That wasn't very nice. And this was after I got myself operated/stitched by the best plastic surgeon in the city. He did a great job and I am ever so thankful to him for giving me a second life of sorts. He did his best but he isn't God. There are still those subtle telltale signs of an accident there and the asymmetry of the hairline gives it away... Now if I had the fortune of having a seat-belt in that car, I would never have had to go through all that because that seat-belt would have restrained me and never have allowed me to get even close to the seat back where I hit my head. Of course nothing happened to the driver as you might have guessed by now because he had a seat-belt, but he absconded after that incident, when he saw me bleeding and howling away in pain. Sometimes I feel sorry for him, more than myself. He must have to live with much guilt but I hope at least it taught him a lesson of how not to drive. Don't worry. I had the fortune of a good friend by my side, who had luckily not been seriously injured, by God's grace and she was the brave one who (even though she seemed shocked and traumatized by the whole incident and the sight of me bleeding away with that horrifying deep cut on my forehead) rushed me to the nearest hospital to get the immediate first aid and dressing of the wound. She also called my parents and informed them, who came rushing to the hospital and after consultation with the doctor there, took me to the best hospital in the city where I was going to be admitted and sutured later that day by the cosmetic surgeon. Of course I had been put on anesthesia for the procedure and received about 60 stitches on my forehead.
If reading all of this makes you uncomfortable, then hopefully I have succeeded in accomplishing my purpose of writing this post and pray that every time you or your loved ones sit in a car or a plane you look for the seat-belt, first thing, and ensure that your loved ones put them on too. It's really not as hard as heavy weight lifting or scuba diving to put a sea-belt on. I think it's the least and the best thing you can do to protect yourself from all that unnecessary and undesirable pain and misery. We have only one life. Let's live it safely and beautifully, without having any regrets....
