I don’t really know what to say about this little web comic by Jen Wang titled “dance of the flight attendant,” other than the fact that it puts a smile on my face. Having flown 14 times in the past 30 days, I came to understand – with uncomfortable precision – the safety demonstration given before every flight. Never again would I wonder where exactly my floatation device was located in the unlikely event of a water landing – not that such a landing is anticipated, of course. I can rest at ease now that I know the exact order in which the dangling oxygen mask should be placed over the mouths – mine first, of course, then the mouth of the child sitting next to me. The exits (as noted by the direction my two fingers are pointing) are located throughout the plane: two at the front, two at the wings, and two in the rear.
“My favorite part about flying,” the comic goes, “is the in-flight safety demo given right before takeoff. A ritual performed multiple times a day by multiple people, its everyday habituality gives the performance a detached, overlyrehearsed sort of quality.”
Does anyone (besides me, naturally) pay attention to these demonstrations any more? Anyway, check out the comic, and if anyone can translate the text in the last frame, do so in the comments!
