Flying Isn't Fun

When I was a kid, I had to fly from L.A. to Sacramento and back all the time on a kind of "shuttle" between two divorced parents.  In that era (no...not bi-planes), I generally flew on Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) and was tended to by stewardesses in mini skirts.  My dad or mom would meet me at the gate, and we would get the baggage without a hassle.

Fast-forward to our days.  PSA no longer exits.  The term "stewardess" is no longer used and is even considered sexist.  We are helped along by flight attendants who have to deal with ruder and more demanding customers than ever before.  No one is allowed into the gate areas due to security requirements, so they can't see you off or pick you up at the gate.  The best that your friends can do is drop you off at the red line on the floor where only ticketed passengers may cross, and then say their goodbyes as you wait to go through the scanners in a shoeless manner.

Is it any wonder that flying is no fun?  I never liked turbulence or the general fear of flying.  But going to the airport was cool and kind of relaxed.  But things can't be that way anymore.  September 11 saw to that.  So how does it go now?  You arrive at the airport 2 hours early, check in at the counter and present your forms of identification; go into the secure area and wait in a looooong line to take your shoes off and stick every possible piece of metal on you into a basket to be scanned.  (On that note, why does it seem that some people always - and I mean ALWAYS - get chosen to be taken aside and examined up close and personal?  Is it a pheromone they give off?) 

Now, a quick note here:  I don't blame the TSA agents, nor do I give them any grief.  In fact, I try to smile, say "thank you", maybe have a bit of a laugh with them, and move on my way quickly so that they can get to the next person.  They may not all be the best and the brightest, but they're doing their assigned jobs.

Anyway, after I shove everything back in my pockets and put my shoes back on, I get to sit in the gate area for an hour or more, afraid to buy anything because the sticker shock might kill me, and wait to line up for my airplane boarding, stuck behind people who don't care that it isn't their turn or that they are standing in the wrong line or that they are supposed to wait.

In fact, that may be what has changed flying for the worse more than any other problem.  People are rude.  Not the gate agents, not the flight attendants, and not the security folks; the passengers.  This percentage of "me first" types think that by their existence, they have the right to board first, take up any and all overhead compartment space, lean their chairs back as far as possible, demand this and that from the busy attendants, refuse to turn off their electronic devices, and generally think that rules apply to everyone but them.  They are reason number one why flying is a nightmare now.  They are the reason that zip ties and duct tape are a staple for every flight attendant's first aid kit. 

To those passengers, I say this:  sit your butts down until your seat assignments are called.  Your seat will still be there.  Be polite.  Cooperate with the people in charge of your safety and the safety of the rest of the passengers.  You don't need your Twitter feed so badly that you can't turn off your phone.  And bathe once in awhile, will you?

I watched a video of a flight attendant in the SFO crash carrying passengers off the plane over her shoulder.  She is over 40 years old and at the hospital it was discovered that she had a broken tail bone.  Yet, she put her passengers first, and made sure that everyone was safe.

You jerks who won't behave on a plane ... rent a car.