Flying Superstitions

Monday, 19 September 2011 | by Pat's Picks

Do you have a flying superstition? Maybe it’s tapping your foot three times. Or swirling your finger in a circle. What ever it is, the Detroit Free Press says lots of rational people concoct little rituals to get themselves through take-off and landing. Explains a psychologist: “Since people look into the air and see nothing holding the plane up, it all seems like magic anyway, right? So if you lift up on the armrest, it might help the plane rise.” It might.

Give it a try, next time you fly. Here’s some other rituals the Free Press culled from its readers:

Buy a crossword puzzle book at the airport.

Hold the in-flight travel magazine during takeoff.

Repeat ‘flaps and slats, flaps and slats, flaps and slats’ as the plane goes down the runway.

Listen to Bonnie Raitt.

Don’t say good-bye to your wife before leaving for the airport.