Realism (in my mind anyway)

Even when I was young, I was a realistic person. I don't see situations through rose-colored glasses, instead I see them as they are in my mind. A prime example of this occured about 13 years ago when I was working as a writer for a magazine and traveling a great deal.

I was flying out of Orlando with a layover in Charlotte and then on to Birmingham. My initial flight was an hour late leaving Orlando due to a technical problem with the plane. Finally, we boarded and were one hour into the flight when it was announced we were returning to Orlando instead of continuing to Charlotte. It was a two hour flight, and at the halfway point, they were turning us around. It was the same distance to Charlotte why turn us around?

This bounced around in my head for a few seconds and then it hit me: Charlotte doesn't want us. I turned to the nicely dressed businessman beside me and said, "You do know there's a problem with the plane?" He asked me what I meant. I explained. He panicked and then others panicked, and the flight attendant looked like she could strangle me. In my realistic mind, it was a fact and didn't upset me so why not tell others. What I didn't take into account was that most others don't think as I do.

Needless to say, when we landed there were firetrucks and rescue units waiting. We landed safely but it was an eye-opening experience to me. Not everyone is realistic and I shouldn't impose my realism on others.

They booked us on other flights, and I ended up being temporarily married, but that's a story for another time.