On Why I Would Make a Horrible Superman

I can't stand stand to fly.

That's not a cute attempt to quote a way over-quoted song, either. That's just the simple truth. I can't stand to fly. I don't much like traveling in general, and I specifically don't like flying anywhere.

Which is somewhat odd, because I used to fly a lot. As a kid, we went down to Disney World several times, and when I played baseball, we flew to all sorts of places. Heck, I even flew to Italy and to the UK (on separate occasions); two flights that are not short.

And I was okay with them.

And then, at some point, I decided that I very much do not like to fly. In a conversation with a good friend last night, I came to realize that I witnessed a pretty horrible occurrence at an airport once, and it's likely that has something to do with my (now 7-year-old) fear of flying.

And "fear" is the absolute right word.

I don't like saying I'm afraid of anything, but the truth is, there are things that scare us all and are very rational fears--like losing our jobs, or a family member passing away--and then there are fears specific to each of us.

For me, that list includes tight spaces, spiders, and flying. So I could never be Peter Parker or Clark Kent. Or Batman. Or Daredevil. Or, come to think of it, Stilt-Man.

I think the thing that gets me is the fact that, no matter what, I can't get out of that plane until it (hopefully) lands. On my flight home, I forced myself to look out the window--something I never do on planes.

It was just clouds, and while I could appreciate the fact that I was in a flying machine, soaring through the clouds, I couldn't help but think it wasn't right. It just wasn't meant to be. Men weren't meant to fly, with clouds between their knees.

Anyway. Like the title says, I would make a horrible Superman.