Flight

Airplanes weigh a lot, yet they still fly. The trick is to get more air underneath the plane than above it. This is accomplished by creating lift; the speed of forward motion combined with the shape of wings shoves air downward. In turn, the wing and the plane it’s attached to are shoved upward. Complex calculations on speed, weight and aerodynamics are required in aircraft design and, in most cases, have been done long in advance of your commercial flight.

You can see what happens when this calculation goes wrong in those old grainy black and white movies that show the maiden flights of curious flying machines at the turn of the 20th century. After the machine flops to the ground, the pilot wrestles his way out of the wreck and looks at the smoking heap as if he's already trying to work on a solution. Actually he is using every bit of his concentration to pretend that he isn't hurt because he knows that the camera is still running. So he stands there scratching his head as if recalculating while the compound fracture in his leg fills his boot with blood.

It's the same way in everyday life when someone trips and falls down in public; others rush to their aid and the first thing the fallen person says with exasperated insistence is that they are okay, even if they are not.

Once, my friend Alan and I were at a street fair in the summertime. There was calliope music and popcorn and food. Kids ran through the crowd with their faces painted and balloons bobbing along behind. I stepped on a bratwurst and slipped, fell hard on the cement and twisted my ankle badly. Over and over again I just screamed as loudly as I could, "Oh my God! Jesus Christ, my ankle is broken! Ahhhhh Jesus!" Because I don't think its right to lie about your feelings.