3 1/2 hours of silence

Ok, so you know I tagged along with Steve to LAS last week.  At one point in the evening, while hanging out with Steve's CA, it came out that on the leg to LAS there was 3 1/2 hours of silence in the cockpit.

3 1/2 hours, people.  Silence.

Steve and the CA were making light of it it, but I couldn't imagine.   AND, this is one of Steve's favorite CAs. I figure that there would be constant conversation...or at least some sporadic conversation here and there.  Not 3 1/2 hours of straight silence.  Of course he was doing nothing but monitoring flight systems the entire time.

For some reason, I took this personally and I made sure to ask the CA, while Steve was in the restroom, if Steve was a slam clicker.  As if I could do anything if he really was one.  I would imagine that the first step of a slam clicker is to not talk in the cockpit. I think he shook his head no.  As I mentioned before, some of the night got fuzzy for me, so that is why I think he shook his head no.

Sort of a tangent, but the more I thought about the night the more I started to think about my memory, or rather lack of memory.  I have made it know that I am an anxious flier, so I take anti-anxiety medicine.  I took my pill, 1mg of Ativan, and was doing great on the flight. Remember, I am about 6'1" and weight about 155, so 1mg does the trick for me since anything less pretty much has no effect on me.  Well, we started to hit some light turbulence over Denver, and because I know of a stick shaker that went off while flying over Denver, I popped another pill.  So by the end of the day, I had 2mg of Ativan in my system.  I had heard people say that their memory is effected with Ativan, and mine surely was that night!  Yes, I was drinking, but not enough for memory loss for goodness sake.  I am going to have to reconsider Ativan and maybe go to another medication.

OK, so where was I?  Yeah, so the CA shook his head no and I took a bit of comfort in that.  Plus, we were having a good time, so I hope that made up for any silence in the cockpit.


Later on I talked with Steve about the silence, and he really didn't think it was a big deal. And, apparently it really wasn't.  Granted, it isn't something that the extrovert Joanna would do, but is obviously something that the introvert Steve might do all the time.  The ironic thing about all this is that Steve just drew my attention to a related article in Time Magazine.  I should be more descriptive: he actually got home from a trip, threw the magazine at me and the words out of his mouth were something like "this describes me and your son to a T...read it!"  The article is about how being an introvert, in a world of extroverts, really isn't that bad after all and how introverts bring as much to the table as an extravert.  After knowing Steve since 1998, one would think that I know him in and out...but, I tell you what, this article really shed some light on him.
The article lays out the profile of an introvert, which Steve fits to a T!
- enjoys solitude
- dislikes small talk
- not a big risk taker
- dislikes conflict
- works best alone
- prefers not to show work or discuss it with others until it is finished
- often lets calls go to voicemail
...the list continues...

Now, to be fair to Steve, I think that most people may be surprised that Steve is an introvert because socially he is fine. Sure, he can make small talk since sometimes that is what is socially necessary, and he isn't socially awkward in the least.  Although, when I was in the midst of my labor with CC, he wanted ME to call the neighbors to come and watch Ben. Um Honey, I am a little busy here...hoo hoo heeee.  hoo hoo heee.  He just tends to stay close to home and close to his friends.  I kept thinking this was a pilot thing, but the more I think about it the more I realize it must be an introvert thing. 

We had a family gathering last weekend and this article came up.  My uncle is an introvert as well so he could totally relate to this article.  He even furthered things and said that he he has no issues with eating out alone, and sometimes may even prefer that.  Again, light was shed on me.  When I think about how lonely Steve must be while on the road, I guess it really isn't all that bad since that is what his personality prefers.  Sure, there are times when he misses us horribly, but there are times when he probably craves the solitude.

And I do have to say, when we were in LAS just laying in bed watching tv, it was actually sort of nice.  Adult TV...meaning: no Disney Channel, not the XXX stuff...dirty minds!...and peace and quiet.  Just relaxing.  Not bad! 


So, the introvert in Steve has no issues being quiet for 3 1/2 hours.  He may crave the quiet.  He may crave to be alone.  He may prefer to eat by himself.  Even though this isn't something that I would want, it doesn't mean it isn't something that he wants.  I will now embrace Steve's introvertness.  Is that a word? I now won't totally feel so badly for him when he is alone.  I will now let him finish a home project all by himself...even if he is yelling out "fuck" and "ahhhhh" out of frustration.  Remember, he works best alone so I would just be in the way. 

There you have it...my pilot, the introvert who doesn't talk to one of his favorite CAs for 3 1/2 hours. 






Comments

  1. My pilot is the same way. He is definitely an introvert and can spend a ton of time alone with no problems. I don't get it either because I crave human interaction, but he's fine with it! He sometimes is a slam clicker and sometimes hangs with the crew, it depends on his mood. I'm not sure about cockpit conversation, but it wouldn't surprise me if he went 3+ hours without talking, because he's less likely to initiate conversation, so if the CA isn't starting a conversation, I doubt Greg would. I would know a person's entire life story if I was stuck in a confined space for 3 hours!

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    1. I know...I would know the entire life story too! I mean, 3 1/2 straight hours - that is one long flight!

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  2. My pilot tents to be a slam clicker but more because his schedule is terrible and the overnights are way too short. He's also vegetarian and when the rest of the crew wants to hit up a sports bar, there just aren't options for him to eat so he packs his food and eats in his room. Otherwise though, he can hold his own in a social setting...but if the CA is boring, there will be silence. :)

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    1. what, your husband doesn't want to eat french fries every night for dinner? ;-) That is every child's dream!

      That is the thing about this CA, he isn't boring so that is why it boggles my mind.

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  3. I have two, maybe three, co-pilots on my top twenty list that don't talk much. We can go 1,000 miles between words... Of course, I stir the pot as much as possible trying to shake a few words loose, but usually to no avail. Strangely enough, they are interesting guys to fly with because of good airmanship skills and when they do talk it is relevant.

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    1. That makes me feel better. I guess since I am married to him, after all, he is a reflection of me and I want people to like me. I guess conversation isn't everything. And apparently, they were quite talkative on day 1 about politics, if you could imagine that. But, since they share similar views the conversation was easy.

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