Why the plane crash freaks me out

[sal_amanda]

I suppose there are many reasons why the plane crash is a bit extra freaky to me.  One person I know lost a friend from her temple.  One person from high school lost a second cousin.  One person I had some math classes with in college was getting married this weekend and his brother's girlfriend was on that flight.  So there's that one degree of separation between me and someone I could have known on there. 

Plus a friend of mine is coming into town next Thursday, but she had considered coming this past Thursday instead and had been looking at that flight if she had decided to do that.  So that brought it home a little bit more. 

But then there's the fact that it really is near my home.  About six miles, to be exact. 

But here's the clincher for me.  We're under a flight path to and from the airport.  Planes fly overhead all the time and there are times when we were outside that they seemed extra loud and I've thought about what in the world we would do if one had problems right over our house.  I know the odds are not in favor of that, but the thought had crossed my mind long before this ever happened.

However, I opt not to dwell on it.  That would just make me insane.  And if I learned anything from 9/11 it's that watching constant coverage is bad for your mental health.  Having Nora around made it easy to not have the TV on, but I think it was unnecessary for one of the local channels to have perpetual coverage for over 36 hours straight.  They weren't saying much of anything new.  Just retraumatizing people. 

So I don't know.  Life goes on, I guess.

Comments

[busybusymama.livejournal.com]

You are right... it is disturbing, especially when planes are always flying over your house. I think that it is so easy for people to over-fixate during times like this, which is makes it even that much more upsetting that the television stations always play these things over and over.

Not that I think you are over-fixating. It sounds like you are not.

I had been trying really hard not to think about this one... and then I got an email from my cousin that lives near you. He is a pilot, and I think he is pretty shaken up by this, since it is a flight path that he takes all the time. Kind of hits home that something like this could happen to him. I'm sure my aunt and uncle worry about that all the time, as it is...

[sal_amanda]

In actuality, it's quite miraculous that only one person on the ground was killed. The wife managed to get out of the house and the daughter was blown out. And both had hardly a scratch on them. AND no other houses were affected. Also, not to be morbid here, but it sounds pretty much like everyone died instantly from what they are saying so at least there's some comfort in that. Heck, there weren't even any problems until 26 seconds before the plane crashed so there wasn't even time for people to truly freak out. I guess as awful as this was, it was the best version of awful that could have happened.

Statistically speaking, I can take comfort in the fact that it's unlikely to happen to us.

[i-am-solid.livejournal.com]

So, when you do move you plan to look for places not under a flight path and with no history of water line issues?

[sal_amanda]

You know, even with this current event, I'll take good water lines over not being under a flight path. I want quality of life while I'm still living it.