Sorry for the Eminem reference but it fit the topic...

I had started a seperate thread asking about daylight on a NRT-SFO flight which got me talking about my unique ride to 1K.(if not unique then speak up) Warning this has nothing to do with getting upgrades or best seats to sit or the new config or mai tais to HNL or .bomb or schedule changes or channel 9 or good/bad service or *A award tickets or drunk pilots...just about me sitting around
so here I go...
I am afraid of flying. It makes no sense whatsoever and I know that. My father worked 42 years for UAL and we flew all over the world as kids. Never had a problem. I love commercial airplanes and can identify pretty much any commercial aircraft.(not special here i know but the rest of the world is impressed!)
At some point, say 15 years ago I started to be terrified of flying. Takeoffs/landings are no prob, just the level flying at 30K feet. I cannot sleep as when I try to doze off I stop hearing the engines and startle myself which then leads into a bit of a panic attack.(never had a panic attack before and do not have them anywhere but in my seat) Needless to say it is torture.
The bigger problem is that if I try to get out of my seat during flight my knees buckle and I sit back down. Short trip to LAS from SFO, not a problem. My frequesnt trips to LHR or my upcoming to NRT, problem.
I will become a 1K this week and I will do it without seeing the inside of a lav. My wife tells me they are quite a treat, comparing them to the rest room at Fenway Park.
I plan ahead a few days and structure my eating/drinking habits accordingly by ingesting very little liquids and eating very bland food. I will not have a drink on the plane until about 2 hours from landing. I bet by drinking plenty of booze on the flight I could deal with my fear better BUT that will require at least one lav visit and that is not happening.
Wondering if my experience is unique here and if anyone has stories they can share. An no post is without a new config reference: Those new Biz class seats have NO storage. When you can get up to get stuff out of the overhead it really becomes a problem. So I just tuck my bag behind my legs and toss on the blanket.
I hope to see you on a flight soon, come and say hello. You cant miss me I am the one who is sitting down....the entire flight.
pkdonnel