Bad things come in threes…or fours… or fives
I hate being the drama queen, I really do. but it seems like over the last 8 weeks we’ve had more than our fair share.
- A kid on a bike ran into A’s car while he was at his crashpad. The kid got a ticket.
- I totalled not one, but two cell phones in a matter of days.
- A’s plane mishap
- I got into a fender bender with Kidzilla in the car because the lady in the lane next to me (going the same direction as me)Â decides to make a left turn from the right lane. She got the ticket but I’ve got to get the car fixed.
Hopefully some good karma will kick in for the holidays.
And I did find the one bad thing about A being off reserve and holding a line- he’s no longer available by phone 24/7. When he was on reserve he rarely actually flew so I could call him at any time of day. Now that he’s actually flying, I have to wait for him to land and get back to me. But I guess I can live with that.
Sometimes it’s easier not to know
A made it home last night and is fine. He’s already past the incident, while I’m still working through it. It’s been so nice to have other wives to talk to. From the moment I first heard from A, my mental Rolodex started spinning through who I could contact for support.
It’s really difficult to be on the receiving end of the knowledge, knowing only what you are told and being unable to ask any follow up questions. Every time we would talk, A would give me some new piece of information (only part of which I would understand as my knowledge of aviation and jet systems is limited) or tell me what was going to happen next and I’d ask “well what about this?” or “did you ask this?” inevitably he wouldn’t know. What the next step was going to be changed every time I spoke with him. For a control freak such as myself, it was torture.
It brought up something that had been in the back of my mind since we started commercial aviation- who notifies the family if something goes wrong? I know that in the case of an accident it will be splashed all over the news before I am ever notified; news crews don’t give a rat’s ass about compassion for the victim’s families. But who’s job is it to make the official notification- the company or the union? And when? And how? Would I just receive a phone call and that was it? Would I be lumped in with the victim’s families when they would probably be blaming the pilot for the incident? What if it wasn’t an accident, but he had to be hospitalized and couldn’t contact me? Would they contact me then? What is the notification threshold? Would I be flown out to be with him or would that be my responsibility? If, say, I couldn’t get in touch with my husband for several hours after he was supposed to have landed is there a number I can call to find out if something happened to him? All I know now is that they have my “emergency contact information” (ie phone number). I have visions of being off on a day trip to the beach with a terrible message waiting for me on the home answering machine, not knowing because no one bothered to call my cell phone…. It would be nice if the company could put out a brochure for families about procedures in this type of situation.
I’m still suprised that we’ve already had an incident but according to A, I shouldn’t be. With the frequency of flying that they do, it’s bound to happen sooner or later. And then he regales me with stories of what’s happened to other people he knows and I kindly tell him that it’s better if I don’t know these things.
He’s home for a few days now before he heads out to rondeveau with his metal mistress at the end of the week again.
When the unexpected happens
A called me this afternoon. They had to make an emergency landing on a flight he was crewing due to mechanical issues. He’s fine, but does need to go to the hospital to get checked out due to overpressurization of the cabin. The crew had to be removed from the rest of their trips.
This is not a situation I thought I would be in after only 7 months on the job. I only know what he tells me, he doesn’t have a lot of information. I wonder if he’s withholding to try to keep me from worrying. It’s killing me not to be there to find out first hand what’s going on. It’s hard to have whispered conversations with A and with my friends in the medical and aviation communities trying to keep any note of concern or upset out of my voice for the sake of our son. Trying to explain to our son why I am agitated and no, for god’s sake you can not have another cookie right now so stop asking me.
I trust that everything will be all right. I have to because I don’t want think about what could have been. I am in awe that he will be able to turn around and come home via airplane. If it were me, I’d opt for Amtrak. I guess he doesn’t have a choice thought, the sky is his home. But for today, I’m happy his feet are on the ground.