how to stop your brain in an accident

I remember being in the plane with the engine on fire.

We had to fly in circles to ditch the fuel over the desert before making an emergency landing on one engine.

Adopt a special version of the crash position, individually checked by the aircrew, who put on orange jackets and special hats. They call to one another during the procedure.

Hmm.

There were plenty of fire engines, but they didn't chase behind us like the movies. They worked out where we'd come to rest. Burning rubber from the tyres. No reverse thrust.

The pilot did a lap of honour after we were down.

But we were in an Arab country and they confiscated all our passports. We were now technically there without papers. Even my multi-entry visa wasn't enough.

Eventually we were put in a big room and watched various self appointed crowd leaders trying to get something done.

C'mon.

Our little gang of three quietly phoned out and rebooked some new tickets and hotel rooms. It was a good move and better than trying to have an argument with the officials in the room. Standing on chairs shouting didn't seem to be working.

Disassociate and pass the headphones.

When they eventually let us go we were already booked onto the next day's plane and had some Marriott rooms near the airport to crash (bad choice of word?).

Next night we ran into the pilot when we got back to the airport. A jet turbo blade had sheared into the engine. It doesn't happen very often.

So 'How to stop your brain in an accident' comes through on a number of levels. Yes, it's a guilty pleasure purchase from a random Fopp splurge, but even seeing the cover art takes me back to the coping strategies for unexpected environments.