I was sitting in row 37 that day on an aircraft that they call the MD88. (The MD stands for the McDonnell Douglas). The woman sitting next to me offered some earplugs and I am very glad that I didn’t not turn down the offer. As we started at the stripes of white and down the active runway, the winding began to grow. During the flight, I did not even attempt to talk to the woman who obviously knew better as she sat and read a book. The engines had a loud roar that thundered through my head like no drum I could ever imagine. At some point during the decent, the variable changes in the engine switched back and forth from ear to ear like a songs instruments tease sounding as if coming from different sides of the room. Back and forth, back and forth. The vibrato of the humming shakes my entire body with the depth of the sound making my stomach churn. Physical pain. I cannot wait for the flight to be over.

Memories of holding my frightened child in my arms flooded back into my mind during the flight as I swear I would never fly on this aircraft again. Unfortunately due to my career, I have no choice although I hope I never have to sit by the engines again. The seat guru claims to know the best seats on each aircraft however, I am a little concerned when he shows 5 seats over the wings as good seats!

What I see outside of my window does not instill any further confidence in my mind as I see dirt and what looks like blood smeared across each massive piece of metal. Cracks like an old painting from decades ago and green primer. Luckily, I know that the paint job has nothing to do with the integrity of the performance. I still have no desire to fly on here anytime soon.