So, on the flight home from Denver, I sat in front of a very nice family. A mom, a 13-year-old(ish) girl, and a 9-year-old(ish) girl. They were on their way to California for a vacation, and this was the first airplane ride for either of the two girls. The older one was pretty cool about it, choosing to observe others and figure things out on her own, but the younger girl was really, really excited to be there and had to know everything about everything and apparently had neither watched TV nor movies nor even heard of airplanes before, judging from the question-and-answer session that was going on behind me.
"Is this the seat belt? Do I have to wear it? What seat belt sign? So it goes on and off? But can I stand up? And what's this button? And this one? Volume for what? So it's like a radio? How do I make the seat go back? Like this? Why can't I right now? Oh, did I hit your knees? I'm sorry! What do they mean, air? How do you turn on air? I can't reach. It's cold! A tray! Cool! For like, your drink? Why can't I right now? What safety video? I don't want to watch a safety video. Oh, I do? Air masks? Where do the air masks fall out? What light? I can turn on a light? What if I don't want a light? Why did the other lights go out? She said they're turning off the lights. Did we take off? Oh, we're still not in the air? How will I know when we ta . . . oh. Wow. So I can take my seat belt off now? Yay! Why do I have to put it back on? What's turbulence? I don't feel . . . oh! Why is it bumpy?"
It was cute, in a slightly irritating sort of way. Of course, I was slightly irritated anyway because I was tired and my reading light and the light for the empty seat next to me both weren't working.
She settled down for most of the flight, played Go Fish for a while, and then things got fun again as we were approaching Salt Lake. The mom kept telling the girls that they could see the temple from the air, but didn't have a very good feel for Utah geography, as she thought we would be flying over the Great Salt Lake and that you could see the (Salt Lake) temple from Provo. The older girl was in the window seat, as was I, so as we got lower over the Salt Lake valley I started pointing out landmarks to her and helping her to spot the temple downtown. As you can imagine, this made everyone on the row behind me very happy. They were nothing if not genuinely excited.
As we got very low over the runway, the younger girl began asking questions again, including whether or not we were on the ground yet. I turned around and said, "trust me. You'll know."
She was just about to ask how she'd know, when we hit the runway with the usual thump. It actually was a nice landing. She, caught off guard by it, gave a little scream which made most of the passengers around her laugh. It was pretty funny. "I didn't think it would be like that!"
They were very nice girls and I hope they are having lots of fun in California.
"Is this the seat belt? Do I have to wear it? What seat belt sign? So it goes on and off? But can I stand up? And what's this button? And this one? Volume for what? So it's like a radio? How do I make the seat go back? Like this? Why can't I right now? Oh, did I hit your knees? I'm sorry! What do they mean, air? How do you turn on air? I can't reach. It's cold! A tray! Cool! For like, your drink? Why can't I right now? What safety video? I don't want to watch a safety video. Oh, I do? Air masks? Where do the air masks fall out? What light? I can turn on a light? What if I don't want a light? Why did the other lights go out? She said they're turning off the lights. Did we take off? Oh, we're still not in the air? How will I know when we ta . . . oh. Wow. So I can take my seat belt off now? Yay! Why do I have to put it back on? What's turbulence? I don't feel . . . oh! Why is it bumpy?"
It was cute, in a slightly irritating sort of way. Of course, I was slightly irritated anyway because I was tired and my reading light and the light for the empty seat next to me both weren't working.
She settled down for most of the flight, played Go Fish for a while, and then things got fun again as we were approaching Salt Lake. The mom kept telling the girls that they could see the temple from the air, but didn't have a very good feel for Utah geography, as she thought we would be flying over the Great Salt Lake and that you could see the (Salt Lake) temple from Provo. The older girl was in the window seat, as was I, so as we got lower over the Salt Lake valley I started pointing out landmarks to her and helping her to spot the temple downtown. As you can imagine, this made everyone on the row behind me very happy. They were nothing if not genuinely excited.
As we got very low over the runway, the younger girl began asking questions again, including whether or not we were on the ground yet. I turned around and said, "trust me. You'll know."
She was just about to ask how she'd know, when we hit the runway with the usual thump. It actually was a nice landing. She, caught off guard by it, gave a little scream which made most of the passengers around her laugh. It was pretty funny. "I didn't think it would be like that!"
They were very nice girls and I hope they are having lots of fun in California.
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