9 October 2013

Have you ever cried on a plane?

Last week I came across this article: Why We Cry On Planes and I thought it was actually written for me. I had no idea this is a real thing. I emailed it to Jill. Look! It's a real thing!

It turns out over half of people experience heightened emotions while flying. It makes sense if you think about it. Most of the time you're exhausted and had a hectic day getting ready for your flight, or maybe you've just left a loved one. Maybe you're moving away from home. And like Louis C.K. says, you have no phone or internet to distract you from those emotions. Then BAM! Miss Congeniality comes on your tiny screen and you have a breakdown.




The comments at the bottom of the article are almost as good as the article itself. Take this guy: "I once wept during 'Spanglish' on a red eye from LAX. That and the birth of my daughter are the only times I've cried in public. It was damn odd."

Still some people have absolutely no idea why anyone would ever cry on a plane. I read the article to Adam and I choked up just reading about crying. He thought I was ridiculous and he didn't get it at all. He says he's never seen me cry on a plane. That's the thing, everyone hides it. 41% of men say they've buried themselves in blankets to hide themselves from other passengers! Some people run to the bathroom to pull themselves together. I don't feel so weird anymore.

Often when we leave Kinshasa at the end of the school year, we're on the same flight as folks who are leaving Congo forever. I've watched them the week before, during their goodbyes, be stoic and uncaring about their departure. Then when they get on that plane, they fall to pieces. Before takeoff. Before alcohol. Just sitting there in the quiet is what finally gets you.

A few years ago I was flying back from Nairobi with a group of high-schoolers. Seabiscuit was on. (You can see where this story is going.)  I totally lost it. Granted, I was pregnant. But I just couldn't hold back my tears when that damn horse won. Then the girls started to notice. "Mrs. Sensamaust? Are you okay? Mrs. Sensamaust why are you crying?"

Just utter the word "cry" and an entire plane of teenagers will turn around in their seats to squawk and gawk at their emotionally unstable teacher. "No, no. Nothing to see here. The air's just really dry on this plane. Oh look. Isn't that the seat belt sign? Better turn back around." I don't even think I had my headphones on. Just watching that horse and Tobey Maguire in their glory was enough to get me.

Darn you, Seabiscuit. Leave me and my fragile emotions alone!

I know all this sounds crazy. But if you still don't believe me, ask Jill what happened to her the last time she was on a plane and We Bought a Zoo came on. Or better yet, ask her completely confused husband.
 

10 comments:

  1. I once cried so hard while watching Backdraft on a plane from Chicago to Tokyo that the Japanese businessman sitting next to me called the flight attendant over to help me! ;)

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    1. My husband just laughed out loud at your comment!

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  2. I often cry on planes. Never as hard though as when I left Israel-Palestine, during one of the times I really wanted to just stay, and was watching Titanic. "My Heart Will Go On" has never ever been as meaningful to me :)

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  3. I flew back from my half-year-journey to Australia and New Zealand as a 20-year-old; it had been the first time away from home for so long. Half an hour before arrival I noticed on the screen that the plane was just above the area where my parents live. It was 4 in the morning local time and I pictured them and my brothers sleeping in their beds - I realized how much I had missed them and completely lost it. The flight attendant thought I was afraid of the landing and told me it was really safe - I was just like: 'Don't care, just get it down right here!'

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  4. I always cry on planes. I never knew it was a thing until now!
    Being all alone, surrounded by strangers, flying far away or coming back home - it gets me every time. I've definitely been asked by the flight attendant if I'm ok, despite my attempts to hide my crying.
    I also cry on trains and long bus rides. One time I was on an overnight bus going somewhere in Spain and they played a movie about a boy and his dog. I don't know what the movie was about and I couldn't hear the sound, but just seeing the scenes made me lose it. All of the Spanish families around me thought I was crazy!

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  5. Yessss!!!!! I've cried on many a long journey, movie induced and otherwise.

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  6. Oh man! I love hearing these stories! Who knew this was such a universal emotion. Now I want to hear from the flight attendants who have to deal with it all the time!

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  7. That scene with me, "We Bought a Zoo" and landing in N'djili was full of ugly cries. Johan was really disturbed. I have now added "Have you ever cried on a plane?" into my selection of basic conversation starters. I've asked about five people today and the response has been overwhelming. No actual tears yet, though.

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  8. I get choked up when I walk into airports. Just walking through the doors. Then we hit the lines and that straightens me up right quick. (I don't think I cried on the planes at all yesterday. Unless you count crying from laughter at one of the TV shows...)

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    1. Crying at TV shows definitely counts! That's the "heightened emotions" part. After reading this Adam said I always laugh harder at TV shows on planes. And sometimes I laugh till I cry. I mean c'mon Frasier's not that funny down here on the ground.

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