Just In Case

In southern California recently a plane with 140 people on board circled above the airport, crippled with mechanical failure that promised to take the lives of all in landing. The part of the story (via Winston) that caught my attention was the fact that passengers watched their own unfolding drama via TV coverage available in flight. The question built into the situation is, of course, “Would you want to know?”

My answer is “yes.” (maybe “no”)

I don’t have television to inform my circumstance, but I have a report straight from the front when Tommi finds herself heading into what she sees as a potentially life-threatening event. These are “just in case” emails or phone calls or instant messages. She makes faithful report. There were “just in case” messages sent from JetBlue Flight 292, too.

The people in California made it to the ground safely, and I got word yesterday morning that Tommi was back inside the gate. She’d accompanied an entourage to some place or other and had been squeezed onto the “last bird out” for her return to base. Knowing is roller-coaster riding, hard-found next breaths, and reading the same paragraph of Kenneth Burke for the fifth or sixth time, but not knowing is a “just in case” chance I don’t want to take.

One hundred and thirteen days to go. In 113 days Tommi comes home.

technorati tags: Iraq, knowing, Tommi