DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT—On Thursday morning, passengers on American Airlines flight 832 to Sacramento sat and passively observed the safety demonstration that is required before each commercial flight in the United States. Whereas virtually no passenger took note as the flight attendant, Toni Jenkins, 29, walked them through how to buckle their seat belts and informed them that their seat cushions can be used as flotation devices in the unlikely event of a water landing, one passenger paid close attention.
Felicity Vargas-Thompson, 44, watched the demonstration closely. "I was at first drawn in to what this woman's experience was. I wanted to hear her story," explains the high school drama teacher for the last 20 years. "She started out with a captivating story: an airline worker, concerned about keeping us all calm and prepared for whatever we might encounter. I was riveted."
However, the director of You Can't Take It With You at Littleton High School, which begins performances in April with $6 tickets available at the door, quickly experienced disappointment once the airline employee began to explain how to put on an oxygen mask in the event of cabin pressure loss. "Really," she commented, with a somehow suddenly British accent, "if you ask me, it felt forced."
Vargas-Thompson, who holds a performing arts degree from Roosevelt University, Chicago, found the safety demonstration to be "unbelievable." She elaborates, "I found her delivery in the buckling of the seat belt to be robotic. I realize that she does this several times a day, but the audience needs to believe that it is fresh and new."
She added, "The scene [sic] where Ms. Jenkins was pleading [sic] with her audience to ensure that our own oxygen masks were secure before assisting others was far too stale. That's been done. I think it would be much more engaging to portray a scene of a young, single mother, for instance, who is faced with the impossible choice of having one oxygen mask, but two children, and she tearfully, but dutifully sacrifices her own body's need for oxygen for her own children. Oh my! You see? Did you feel that just now?"
The drama teacher, who was reportedly traveling to visit an ailing aunt, offered her expertise to the flight attendant. "I know it's cliche, but the key really is motivation. You must enter the mind, nay, become the person who desperately needs to locate her nearest exit, keeping in mind that it may be behind her. You then immerse yourself in that role for the duration of the flight.
"It makes a world of difference," the never-married owner of three cats added.
When asked for comments on her safety demonstration, Ms. Jenkins commented, "Yeah, it's all horse[crap] anyway. If this can goes down, we are all screwed."