Flight Essay

I finally walked through security safely, and caught up with everyone else. It was ultimately time to board and we gathered in a single file line to give our boarding passes to the flight attendants. Stepping onto the plane itself was the world’s best feeling. I could feel my body get tense and my face lit up. We took our seats and with my luck I was stuck with the middle. Due to the circumstances, I dealt with it. Being that it was a 10 hour flight, I needed ways to keep myself occupied. Therefore, I reclined my seat and fell into a gently sleep.

Sherman Alexie’s Flight Patterns tries to tackle a challenging subject. It probes the underbelly of modern life, sifting through the cloudy American mind that’s full of seemingly useless information, in search of what’s truly important in life. This happens through the stories two main scenes. The first depicts William’s relationship with his daughter and wife, and conflicts in life. The second engages William in a taxi-cab conversation that shuffles his priorities and forces him to confront his problem. This pushes him to his tipping point, and when the ride is over, he becomes uneasy and cares only to hear his family’s voice, not about his job, or the fears that had previously been driving forces. Alexie is trying to show that

You are in an airport waiting for your plane to arrive. You've never flown before, and are more terrified than you can ever remember being. Everyone has told you the supposedly comforting statistics - "millions of planes take off each day and there's only a handful of crashes," "flying is safer than driving." You know rationally that there is no reason to be so scared, but regardless your heart is racing, your palms are sweating, and you're light-headed. Simply the thought of being up in the air, out of control, makes you feel faint. Finally the flight attendant announces that your plane has arrived. But as all the other passengers line up to get onboard, you grab your luggage and walk straight out of the airport,

“Uhhhh...” is all I could manage to articulate as my mind is quickly turns to mush from his hands explorations.

As I got stuck with the window aisle seat, my attention was diverted outside the plane; clouds as white as snow, and the surrounding atmosphere was completely empty, but the noise level on the plane was highly aggravating to my ears, so I forced in a pair of headphones into my ears. Yet, I could still hear the chatter of other passengers, the wailing from children and the constant repetition of the stewardesses asking passengers “Any beverages?”

The doors sealed shut and the plane rumbled to life. We began our crawl down the runway and finally, we lifted into the air. I was on the plane and it was going to be smooth sailing from there, right? Wrong. Apparently, in my 17 years, I had done something to angered the fates and now on this

“ Just tell me. I traveled this far just to come here.You are gonna tell me or I am leaving this

"Hey umm," the voice had startled Nadia from her mindless dancing and rapping. She turns down the music facing the voice.

I cleared my throat to be able to speak loud enough for me to hear. "What are you doing?"

The flight deck is a beautifully orchestrated ballet. All around me the sound of people yelling and jets turning fills my ears. I’m drenched in sweat. I feel alive. The smell of saltwater and jet exhaust fills my lungs and in that moment I’m

It was a dark and stormy night- except it wasn’t. It was actually a crisp, clear January morning. January 14, 2011 to be exact. It was the first time I had ever been outside the United States, and I was on a 13 hour nonstop flight to Israel. Even though I had been in an airplane before, this was a totally different experience. We were not allowed to get up, unless we were on the way to the bathroom, we were served dinner which was… interesting to say the least and thankfully, I didn’t get food poisoning (until the flight back to the U.S.). We also had in-flight TV, which was awesome because it had a plethora of new movies that I had never seen before! After the long flight I was extremely happy to be able to walk around, however we didn’t do

Flight 375 now departing for Quebec, Canada. The sound wakes me up. I run onto the plane and buckle up and fall asleep. The intercom wakes me up. All I can hear is whimpering and a few babies. I ask the person next to me what happened.

I woke up to the sound of clapping and cheering. I turned to see everyone on the plane clapping for reasons unknown. I quickly put my seatbelt back on, as I felt the plane starting to land. Finally, no more stale plane food, sleeping in uncomfortable positions and listening to other people snore.

“Yeah, I got it. Everything is everything.” Greg placed his headphones back on and returned to what he was doing.

I felt the eye of judgment piercing through me as I entered the plane. I could hear people whispering and giggling. While scanning the rows to find my assigned seat, I could see the looks of concern from those who thought I might sit by them. The clicking sounds of seat belt buckles almost sent me into a panic. I was dreading asking the flight attendant for a lap belt extension, or worse, having it offered without asking. Words were not necessary to feel the intensity of mass criticism. To make matters worse, it was a hot day, and my clothes were sticking to my body, outlining my multiple layers of over-indulgence. I was overheating and could taste salty beads of sweat trickling down my face.