Good Morning.
I am very unhappy in an aircraft and tend to clutch a cocktail and the person next to me while blubbering that I will never violate any of the Ten Commandments again. I once flew across the country through a thunderstorm, deplaned in New York, stayed overnight, and drove an automobile the rest of the way. It was years before I visited an airport for any reason again.
I do recall that flying was once an experience where the traveler was actually pampered. I flew, in coach, mind you, to Hawaii during the 1960s and was treated like royalty. I was given a lei, a real one, served a veritable feast at no extra charge, and handed a steaming hot towel with silver tongs after the meal. I had a seat I could recline without causing injury to the person behind me. Twenty years later I flew to Europe and had a lunch that I cannot describe because I have no idea what it was. Twenty years after that I noticed that several passengers picked up a Big Mac in the airport before boarding. I did not and was treated on the three-hour flight to a small bag of nuts.
I haven’t flown since and cannot imagine engaging in such folly under the current conditions. With two faulty knees, I cannot stand for hours to undergo search and seizure by security personnel. Old women, unless they have personality issues best left undetailed here, do not enjoy being patted down and having someone dig around in their purse that contains a magnifying glass for reading the flight magazine in the seat pocket.
One frequent flyer I know, always impeccably dressed with jewelry that would set off the buzzer, finally got so fed up with the security process that she blamed the alarm as loudly as she could on a non-existent steel pin in her hip.
Which brings me to another point. People used to wear a nice outfit to fly, perhaps because they wanted to be properly attired if the plane ditched and rescuers found them in the Pacific on their inflatable seat cushions. Now travelers show up looking like they just cleaned out the garage, undoubtedly because such activity is on a par with being wedged into a seat half the size of the occupant. I am not interested in having the more generous areas of my body creep into the adjoining space, nor do I want a wad of thigh in mine.
I hear a lot of talk about a crumbling infrastructure that means, among other things, the airports need to be refurbished. Apparently an architectural wonder will make up for the injustices that are inflicted upon passengers therein and above. I do not agree and will watch the travel channel.
Best regards,
Elisabeth
Comments