Please Secure Your Own Mask Before Attempting To Help Children or Others

You learn a lot about people and human nature when you work on an airplane. When you get people operating at, what is for some, an extremely high stress level, you get to see all kinds of rude, nasty, and inappropriate behavior. I personally feel most of the negative behavior that happens is rooted pretty deeply in fear (as someone who never, ever had a fear of flying, it can be hard to be sympathetic, but its my job to be just that, so I try). I've seen grown women kick each other's seat backs, pour juice on each other's seats, and do everything associated with 5-year old children short of hair pulling. Sometimes it amusing, most of the time its annoying, and in rare instances its downright flabbergasting.

Anyway, I had intended to write a post for a long time about my observations on human nature in an oxygen deprived can 30,000 feet in the air, but something occurred to me the other day doing the safety demo that struck me as probably the biggest and most concise idea about humans I've been able to observe.

You know that part in every airplane safety demo that goes "In case of sudden loss of pressure, oxygen masks will deploy from a compartment above your head. Use the elastic strap to secure the mask around your mouth and nose. Please make sure to secure your own mask before attempting to help children or others."

'Please secure your own mask before attempting to help children or others.'

Which, basically says, 'Please, get your own shit together before attempting to even go near other people.'

You're no good to anyone if you've passed out while the plane is going down. If you don't take care of yourself, you'll never be able to take care of others.

Thanks, safety demo. I always knew there was philosophy hidden deep in you somewhere.

-J