Flotation Devices

When Lydia and her daughter Becca board a sparsely occupied early morning flight a little late, they never imagine just how the man assigned a seat on their row will forever change their thoughts on airplane safety.

He's clearly agitated as they arrive, arguing rather emphatically with one of the female flight attendants, seeming quite bothered by something. Damien as he introduces himself, explains that he's on his way to Vegas for a conference of like minded associates. Lydia and Becca are simply passing through Vegas on their way home from an Academic Conference Becca attended across country.

Yet even with friendly greetings done, and with Becca soon falling fast asleep in her seat by the window, Damien is very much not over whatever he'd been discussing so bothered with the flight attendant.

Curious and figuring a slick looking businessman like Damien is bound to feel better talking about it, Lydia soon wishes she had gone on not knowing. As Damien points out, this is an older smaller plane and there just aren't the safety measures there really should be. The seats for example can't be used as flotation devices in case of water landing.

While a water landing on a flight to Vegas seems unlikely, what doesn't is some rather severe upcoming turbulence as Damien insists he was told about. Turbulence can mean knocking passengers around and if the seats are hard and provide no padding they can in effect cause injury.

It's after Damien mentions that Becca particularly seems susceptible to injury sleeping as she is doing, buckled in but still easily capable of smashing into the seat before her.

Bothered by the sheer convincing way Damien describes all the dangerous scenarios, just what will Lydia do when they just can't manage to wake Becca up? Will she resort to things which moments before her flight would have seemed beyond ridiculous and inconceivable to try? Will Lydia be the best mother possible by ensuring her sleeping daughter's safety on the flight, or will she unknowingly become the worst mother ever by freakishly enhancing her daughter's built-in flotation devices all in the name of basic safety?

It's Readers Choice Month, so let's fly the friendly skies... the very friendly skies. Just remember that safety is sometimes anything but safe... and a mother can occasionally take watching out for her daughter way too far.