It’s just a story that deserves note, in my opinion, and takes more than 500 characters to tell. So here goes.
I had been an aerospace fan as long as I could remember. Intensely curious, I paid attention to the sort of details that typical people would not notice.
On the morning of the last Challenger launch, our baby boy had a Pediatrician appointment. One of those routine checks they make you do every N weeks until they’ve survived a year or so.
The Doc appointment was done, and I’d bundled Danny back into the car-seat. I was ready to go, but not in a hurry, and the launch countdown was less than the time it would take to get home & the TV on and whatnot. So I just stood there, watching the launch in the clinic waiting room. Most of the other mommies were also watching, some more intently than others.
About T+60 or 70 seconds, there’s that first little puff of something in the wrong place. A little flash. I don’t know why, but I noticed it. And I said, “Oh! That doesn’t look right.” Why would I say something like that, aloud, in a room full of strangers? Dunno, but it’s definitely part of my personality to be the first person to say something into an awkward silence.
When I said that, in my periphery, I saw one mom glance over at me, like “Dude, what’s your problem?”
Seconds later, boom.
As far as I know, every mom in the place was now looking at me, at least briefly, wondering what the hell it was that I saw that none of them had seen.
The intense scrutiny of all available camera angles would make that all clear soon enough.
But I tell ya, it’s weird AF to be an introvert, and suddenly have the attention of every adult stranger in the room, looking at you like you’re obviously clairvoyant or some shit. Acutely unsettling. It was a good thing that I’d already bundled Danny up and buckled him in. I was ready to grab the handle, walk out, pop him in the car, and drive away.
