Bumpy Skies

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Well, at least it wasn't air rage, that report of the two strangers who got intimate in the business cabin of an American flight from Dallas to England this week. Public displays of affection on airplanes aren't unheard of, though apparently this incident was so blatant, the Brits felt compelled to charge the couple with lewd and drunken behavior.

Gee, my flight from Washington, D.C. to L.A. this week wasn't that exciting. My seat mate was a woman who ignored me until we hit some mild turbulence. "Excuse me," she said, "but does this bumping around bother you?" Actually, I enjoy a few air bumps -- they lull me to sleep the way the cement seams on a highway did when I took trips as kid, lying in the back seat of my parent's car.

But I knew she wanted reassurance. I told her, no, mild jostling doesn't bother me, there's nothing to worry about. The airframe of the plane doesn't even feel it. She said she'd been fine on the first leg of her trip because her husband was with her, that she's less afraid of flying when she's with someone. "So," I asked jokingly, "you'd rather plunge to your death with someone you love than by yourself?" Looking back, I probably could have worded that a little better.

P.S. The turbulence subsided, and we landed safely. And darn it, not a single passenger was arrested.

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