While seated.

At first glance, you’d think it’s a curse. A near-death sentence. After all, you’re on a plane. There’s already a ton that we can’t do, but then they make us immobilize ourselves while doing nothing.

Fasten seat belt.

OK, fair enough. Will do. But, frankly, I can see telling someone to sit down if they’re standing. But to seatbelt yourself in if you’re already seated seems a bit overkill.

At least that’s what I heard a fellow passenger say.

I disagree with said fellow passenger, for the record.

Years ago, my brother — who’s a pilot — took the plane he and another pilot managed out for a spin after some maintenance was done on it. Somehow I ended up being a passenger, presumably because I thought it would be fun to go along for the ride.

False.

The plane –a Citation jet of some sort — was performing beautifully — but then we had to either go up really quickly or down. I can’t remember why, but the powers that be wanted us to out of the way of another aircraft. Fast. I remember what my brother and the other pilot chose: they went down. And out of my seat I [nearly] slid, save for the fact that I was loosely seat-belted in.

Had I been merely sitting, I’d have ended up on the floor. Since I was belted in, I didn’t. Having a seatbelt on seems like the least we can do for our friends who fly the usually-friendly skies and get us from point A to point B. It’s good to be prepared.

Do you seatbelt yourself in during the everyday? Is there something that has caught you off-guard and made you wonder where your safety net was?

To the former, my answer is no. To the latter, my answer is yes. Perhaps it’s time to take a bit more caution when I’m seemingly in the middle of smooth-sailing, since we can anyways use a helping hand now and again — even when the skies are clear.

Tonight I am thankful for knowing the value of safety even while seated, and for the available safety nets that we can always make use of.