Sunday 1 November 2009

A whirlwind flying visit....

This weekend I found myself having to return home to Northern Ireland, it was a flying visit which went far to quickly! The journey back however was interesting to say the least. As I woke up this morning and looked out my window the weather was horrendous and my first thoughts were if my flight would actually go ahead and if so how bumpy will it be? Having arrived at the airport, checked in and standing in the queue for security I looked around and it overwhelmed me how many people were passing through, laughter, cries, the vast array of emotions as people said goodbyes and embraced people. As I began to get impatience standing in the security queue for so long I began to think about how fussy they have to be these days compared to years ago when you just simply walked through a detector. The sheer quality and cleverness of the design of the computers which xray the contents of your personal belongings is incredible, but is this an invasion of your privacy? In some ways I think it is although it also could be the difference between a terrorist smuggling something onto the plane and your safety. As I walked through the security I felt as though I was being victimized, as though I was just another figure walking through up for judgement. Would there be room for improvement in this area? Is there a way they could make it a pleasant experience?
Flying from Belfast to Dundee is a unique experience as the plane is so tiny as you can imagine. All I could think of as the pilot began to speak to us over the speakers is will this tiny plane be able to cope with the weather conditions. Would it be sturdy enough? As we took off it became evident that it was going to be a bumpy journey. The experience was more pleasant than I had first anticipated although on landing the sensation of the plane swaying up and down and side to side was one which one passenger did not appreciate as on landing she let out a scream. This state of panic rippled down the plane as we all looked at each other, my heart was in my mouth. Now that I am safely back in my flat and looking back at the experience it is incredible to think that technology and design is so far advanced that I was in one country this morning and a few hours later I'm back in Dundee...

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