A few years ago I was deadheading in uniform when we were struck by lightning. For those who haven't had the pleasure, it sounds like a cannon went off in the cabin. Lightning flashes were seen all the way through the climb and the turbulence had been moderate for several minutes so it wasn't totally unexpected. I'd tried to appear calm during all of this by reading my newspaper. Burying my face in a newspaper was always a good way to avoid talking to passengers.

When the lightning bolt struck I almost dropped my newspaper, but managed to hang on to it. About a half dozen sets of eyeballs locked on to me. I read the same paragraph about 5 or 6 times before moving on, but hopefully I gave the outward appearance of nonchalance.

A little fantasy of mine is to have dropped the newspaper and screamed "Oh MY GAWD!!!" at the top of my lungs to see how many passengers I could panic.

Evil, yes, but funny to think about.