are men smarter than women?
back in the days of maincomm, i confided in matt that i thought guys were smarter than girls. he got a huge kick out of it, and promptly told all the other guys, which should have been my first indication that i was wrong. i told him that whenever i needed to think about something important like my plans for the future, my job, or flying in a helicopter, my mind inevitably turns toward my hair, or what outfit i'll wear on my next date.
monday i rode in a helicopter for the first time. i had a flight brief and they gave me this cool little life jacket/yoke looking thing in case we had to ditch out of the helo. the aircrew guys were nice, they strapped me in to a leash that would only allow me to fall far enough out of the helo to break my face open. i was nervous until we elevated off the ground then i got excited. we took off for guam and flew at about 900ft. we flew alongside the clouds, our propellars pushed them out of the way. the air smelled fresh, and since it was so windy my face became numb (lack of oxygen?) i felt like i was riding in a hammock. the approach to guam from the north is reminicent of the appraoch to lajes air base from naples, however lajes is far more picturesque. We got to guam in the nick of time because my bladder was about to explode and kill me. We went to the exchange, ate pizza, walked around, then hopped back on and did the checks for take-off. on the way back i felt more cofortable, so i sat on the floor and hung my legs over the edge, but after a while i got nervous that my shoes would fly off, so i got back inside. all the while, my main concern was whether or not i looked cute. i can guarantee that the aircrew guys were not paying any attention to me at all, they were concentrating on their very important job. i was getting worked up for nothing and i knew it. i couldn't stop thinking about my crush. what he was doing, how i wished he were there with me, all sorts of stupid things.
at sunset we started circling the ship in preparation for landing. the sunset was gorgeous. all golden against the puffy, white cumulous. i was sitting next to smelly aircrew guy, and i wanted him to be crush. i wanted to hold someones hand at that moment. would a guy think about that, or would he be thinking about cars or food or something? maybe guys aren't smarter. maybe the smelly aircrew guy wanted to hold my hand too. i'll never know.