Roy Bacon seems to have a talent for finding the silver linings in dark clouds.
The panic ban on books and electronic gadgetry aboard transatlantic airliners throws into relief our terror at being deprived of the means to insulate ourselves from other people.
The shock of losing our personal entertainment bubbles should give us pause for thought, and make us wonder if there is a better way of enduring the enforced collectivism of a long-haul flight.
Five hundred people is more individuals than most of us can hope to know intimately in a lifetime. It is the population of a small village. If a packed Jumbo is a community, then aisles are village streets. All right, they are a bit narrow for a full-fledged passeggiata, but there is no reason we should not loiter, chew the fat, shoot the breeze – indulge in those unhurried activities that are so out of kilter with the rush of modern life. With a little lateral thinking the jet airliner, the destroyer of worlds, could be the means of regenerating some homely values.
If you do not like the idea of talking to your neighbour, and in the absence of printed matter, why not get a tattoo to entertain him or her? Depending on your physique you might be limited to a short story or a few haikus, but less – in terms of skin and stanzas – has always been more. Airport novels are not thousand-pagers out of literary necessity.
Or have a random word inscribed on your skin: from an authorised British Airways or United Airlines list, of course. Stewards could ask us our syntactical preference as we get on board, and arrange seating in a narrative way. Even with a 500-word vocabulary there would be the chance of dramatic developments as a YES fell into company with a PLEASE, or failed to see eye to eye with the MAYBE two rows back.
We should start thinking about this stuff. The War on Terror is here to stay, and it is only a matter of time before they take things to their logical conclusion and ban us from carrying anything at all onto aircraft beyond ourselves. And would that really be so bad?
It is often observed that a series of power cuts in a developed nation precedes a spike in the birth rate nine months later. A planeload of naked adults flying through the night: surely they could all find something to do!
It is often observed that a series of power cuts in a developed nation precedes a spike in the birth rate nine months later.
That to a certain extent is down to a crime called rape.
“It is only a matter of time before they take things to their logical conclusion and ban us from carrying anything at all onto aircraft beyond ourselves.”
We’re talking just, us no clothing (not even of the interestingly printed variety)?
“And would that really be so bad”
For me, no. For people looking at me, quite probably.
It is often observed that a series of power cuts in a developed nation precedes a spike in the birth rate nine months later.
>>That to a certain extent is down to a crime called rape.
That is bullshit
According to the radio news I am listening to
They have currently “lost” over 12 thousand pieces of luggage so far in the panic.
Makes you proud to be British dont it!
If they dont sort this out by the time I am due to fly to Italy next month, I am cancelling.
I’m not altogether surprised by the “lost luggage” numbers. The problem isn’t just the shear extra numbers of luggage but that people were checked in for flights that were cancelled and/or delayed and they couldn’t travel with their baggage.
It’ll take ages to fix this.
I spoke to a Baggage guy at Copenhagen and he reckoned a 3 hour shut down there last year took the baggage system almost a week to recover from and they’re a small(ish) airport.
I believe it was Sarte who said “Hell is other people”.
The kids sitting behind you already kick your seat repeatedly because they are bored during takeoff. Can you imagine how they’d react to a whole flight?
Yes, Satre said “Hell is other people” but as usual, he was wrong… Hell is a foreign keyboard.
The panic ban on books and electronic gadgetry aboard transatlantic airliners throws into relief our terror at being deprived of the means to insulate ourselves from other people.
Oh yes, who dare I read a book instead of talking to the drunken man next to me that I don’t know! How anti-social!