Love and Other Brain Experiments

I’ve always been skeptical of Murphy’s Law.

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As a scientist worth her salt, I know that it’s all about the probabilities. With the thousands of actions we take every day, it’s just extremely unlikely that so many of them go wrong. But honestly? After sleeping through my alarm, barely making it to the airport on time despite Lennart’s—my sister’s husband—shortcuts and misplacing the allergy pills that make me drowsy enough to keep my flight anxiety at bay, I’m starting to believe that Murphy’s Law might actually be a thing.

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It’s seemingly not enough that I have to be awake on this flight, visualizing what feels like a million different ways that this plane could crash. The seat belt signs on flight UA 963 from Berlin to Newark Liberty International Airport have barely been switched off when the universe decides to throw an emergency into the mix.

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“Your check-in data say you’re a doctor. Is that correct?” asks the flight attendant with the black polka-dot headband. Right after boarding, when I asked the crew for some pills, she gently pushed me back into my seat, which shouldn’t have come as a surprise. I’m well aware that the crew isn’t allowed to hand out pills just like that, even if it’s over-the-counter medication. They probably don’t even have them on board, but with mine out of reach, I was desperate and thought it was worth a try, no matter how unreasonable the request.

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Now, the flight attendant is staring at me with big brown eyes, polite smile plastered onto her round face, while I’m too panic-stricken to respond, tongue thick in my mouth and heartbeat heavy against my ribs. She leans over the man sitting on the aisle seat next to me—the one with the thick, caterpillar-like eyebrows—to tap on my shoulder and try again.

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“Excuse me? Ma’am? Dr. Silberstein?”

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Caterpillar Eyebrows decides this situation is more interesting than his doorstop of a thriller and slots his finger in between the pages of his book. On my left, the woman is still fast asleep, tie-dye hoodie scrunched up between her head and the window, and one leg tucked up onto the seat.

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“Could you confirm if you’re a doctor?”

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Murphy’s having a field day with me today.