Darlene ChaniMaya Postma

Some years ago, I took the below picture from an airline safety brochure. I’ve been chasing it ever since.

A woman prepares to slide down the wing of a plane, demonstrating safe exit procedure in the rare case of an emergency. My irony-poisoned brain refuses to process this image as anything other than a shitpost. The woman’s expression, plus the urgent gestures of her fellow passengers makes me think this image belongs in a WikiHow article titled “How to be Stubborn in an Aviation Emergency: 14 Steps.”

Unfortunately, I have no idea when I took this picture, or which flight I was on. So, these days, I make a point to flip through the safety brochure located in the seatback pocket on every flight. My motive goes beyond familiarizing myself with the exit row locations. I want to encounter this image again in the wild.

In my most stubborn moments, I flip-flop between ironically identifying with the woman or her fellow passengers. 

“I don’t want to leave the burning plane.” 

“Carol, you have to. Please, your family misses you.” 

Regardless of the memes, if you know what plane this image is from, please let me know. I would love to see it again in person.

Darlene