I call it psychological momentum but the eggheads and shrinks probably have an official term for it. Whatever that name may be, the fact is that we develop certain expectations about how our days are going to go. And we are never really, truly prepared when something unexpected and bad happens that knocks us off our feet. Our world sometimes gets turned completely upside down.
In the aviation industry, helicopter pilots are often accused of being paranoid. This stems from a little treatise written by a newsman named Harry Reasoner back in the Vietnam War days. Harry was overseas, covering the war. He noticed that there were certain differences between airplane and helicopter pilots. Here is what he wrote… (All helicopter pilots know this next part by heart.)
"The thing is, helicopters are different from planes. An airplane by its very nature wants to fly and, if not interfered with too strongly by unusual events or a deliberately incompetent pilot, it will fly. A helicopter does not want to fly. It is maintained in the air by a variety of forces and controls working in opposition to each other, and if there is any disturbance in this delicate balance, the helicopter stops flying, immediately and disastrously. There is no such thing as a gliding helicopter.
This is why being a helicopter pilot is so different from being an airplane pilot, and why, in generality, airplane pilots are open, clear-eyed, buoyant extroverts, and helicopter pilots are brooding introspective anticipators of trouble. They know if something bad has not happened, it is about to.”
Hah! It was true then and it is true now. We helicopters are, quite literally, “brooding introspective anticipators of trouble.” Old Harry got that part right. I know some helicopter pilots who are outwardly jovial and carefree, but it's an act. Deep down, hidden from view are the exact qualities that Harry Reasoner talks about.
The way this manifests itself in my personal life is that I’m never surprised or shocked by…well…anything. If the dreaded “something bad” happens, I won’t go so far as to say I saw it, specifically, coming, but its arrival was not unexpected. Seriously: Accidents, sickness, death…I just don’t get freaked out by any of those things. Years and years and years of flying helicopters has conditioned me to expect the unexpected.
Unfortunately, this has a bad side-effect. Psychologically, it makes me more than a little paranoid. I have to work very hard to not be pessimistic and negative…to enjoy the good times for what they are and not be a Negative Nancy waiting for a shoe to drop. On the other hand, the really good things in life don’t thrill me either. Emotionally, I try to keep everything on an even keel. No super-highs; no super-lows.
Socially, this can be challenging for the people closest to me. More than once, I’ve heard, ”Why are you so negative all the time?!” And my reply is that I’m not negative! I’m…realistic. I’m…practical. I’m…cautious. I’m…I’m…I’m… I’m anything but negative!
Okay, maybe I am.
I am not normal, this I know. Normal people aren’t so guarded and careful with their reactions, feelings and emotions. Normal people don’t always feel that if something hasn’t already gone wrong, it’s about to.
On the other hand, I believe that this mindset allows me to keep things in perspective; to not be overwhelmed with emotion when major upsetting event happens. It’s all about keeping those emotions in check, baby!
Bad things will happen. They always have, and always will. To some degree we can steel ourselves for them, hopefully without being such a sourpuss.
But the more important thing to remember is that there is absolutely no guarantee, no assurance...no reason to think that today will be anything like yesterday. But we do anyway. Well, most of us do. And most of us are caught off-guard by the unexpected. Not me. Nothing fazes me anymore. I continue to be a brooding, introspective anticipator of trouble. Thanks for putting a name on it, Harry.
4 comments:
If I'd ever read that bit from Harry Reasoner, I'd forgotten it. Sounds reasonable to me. My husband was in a helicopter crash in Vietnam. He said they told them "don't worry, it will auto-gyro down" or some such BS. Yeah. Sure.
I'm still smiling at the "negative nancy" phrase. I've always liked that expression. ;)
Harry Reasoner was a treasure. I had never read that piece either. What he said about helicopters makes perfect sense.
If I close my eyes, I can hear Reasoner’s voice, delivering the news like the old pros did, not commenting but just telling us what was happening and letting us make our own decisions.
And so Bob, is there anything you’re not saying here, like how COVID-19 comes as no surprise to you?
Can't believe Harry Reasoner had completely slipped my mind until you brought him up. Like Bob, I can close my eyes and hear his voice still though.
Harry Reasoner certainly belonged to a different breed of newsmen: Those who merely reported the news and let us try to sort it all out. He sure did have a distinctive voice though, with that Midwest sort-of-twang like Johnny Carson had. What he said about helicopter pilots is absolutely true - is still true although we don't like to admit it. Some will even try to deny it. But when I get to know them, I discover that deep down they're just like me, always wondering what's going to go wrong next.
And Bob, I wasn't commenting so much on the coronavirus thing. Throughout history, there have always been these events that "tweak" the earth's population It is naïve to think they won't happen again. People will get sick from Covid-19; people will die - no two ways about that. But how many...thousands? Millions? I hope not! But it would not surprise me.
Actually, I was referring more to things like: A friend had a beloved dog die recently - kind of unexpectedly. The world lost a beloved sports figure, Kobe Bryant. And there have been some other upsetting things happen to people I know. And sometimes I might seem a little on the callous and cold side if my level of grief doesn't match everyone else's. That's all.
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