I Never Said That Rationality Entered Into It

I know that statistically speaking, it is safer to travel by airplane than by car.  And my husband commutes 40+ miles each way every day, so he certainly spends a lot of time in the car.  But he's on a plane right now on his way home from a business trip, and I will be a LOT happier when I hear that his plane has landed safely.  In my imagination, there are just so many more possibilities for a happy ending when you have a problem and are on solid ground to begin with, as opposed to up in the air or out on the water.

And after all the uproar of the last few weeks regarding the lost Malaysia Airlines jet, I think I am more on edge about air travel than usual.  Yes, the authorities' current speculation that the plane had mechanical problems that caused it to go down is less disconcerting to me than the possibility that it was hijacked by terrorists for the purpose of turning it into another airplane-bomb, but still: that's a lot of lives lost and not exactly a happy ending either, especially to contemplate when a loved one is in the air at the time.  And unfortunately, Himself turns around and gets on another plane on Friday morning to join his teammates for one of those crazy 200-plus mile relay races.

I traveled a lot as a kid.  We were constantly on planes for one reason or another, and I don't remember being fazed by that at all.  I guess now that I'm fully aware that I'm not immortal, I don't take things so much for granted!  And it utterly boggles my mind that current technology does not enable us to keep track of exactly where airplanes are, a situation that I hope will be changing very soon.  It is a relief to me that United knows where my husband's particular plane is, anyway, and that its listed status is "Arriving Shortly!"