None taken, either. I appreciate your frankness...

In the end, we're all human. I have seen veteran medics and firefighters suddenly fold in the face of certain situations as well - usually when the unexpected happens. We all try to be flexible and ready for anything, but when a situation suddenly changes from whatever you (subconciously) expected...well, even the best prepared can lose their focus. I sometimes wonder if those of us who fly often are more prone to it, simply for the fact of having taken thousands of purely uneventful flights prior to that incident. Our brains like habit and repetition, I suppose, and sometimes they react poorly to sudden changes. It's easy to be complacent.

This discussion does beg the question, though, of how to effectively train and prepare FA's (and passengers?) for these situations. In our FA training, we discuss a lot of what-ifs and drill the details of evacuations and so on...but how does one address the psychological components? I can rattle off commands and open doors and blow slides in my sleep, but am I mentally prepared for such events? Fortunately they occur infrequently enough that it's not a 'hot' issue for the FAA or for our inflight training department, but perhaps it should be taken more seriously.

Good for you...I wish more of my passengers would take it seriously. I don't want any of you to sit through the entire flight on the edge of your seats, ready to assume a brace position and hustle out of the plane. But I do appreciate those of you who take a half a minute to double check the location of the exits and how many rows are between them and you.

As well you should - it's a huge pet peeve of mine, too. That, and passengers who giggle and chit chat through the demo as well - especially when they're in FC or the exit rows. The reasons are both practical and punctilious. It's just plain bad manners.

Good discussion here; you guys are leaving me with a few questions for others in my company.