“The reason birds can fly and we can’t is simply because they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings.”
― J.M. Barrie, The Little White Bird
Spread our wings and fly.
Well. Not so fast. Because if you want to fly the friendly skies… you are on United. And we know where that is going. This is worse than a bad case of the Flying Monkeys.
Yep. Yesterday, we all watched in disbelief as Chicago Department of Aviation officers dragged a 69-year-old doctor from a plane. David Dao was one of four people who was randomly selected to get off the oversold United plane. And. You know the story.
He and his wife initially agreed, but then they heard the next flight wouldn’t be until Monday late. He, as I mentioned, is a doctor. He had to be at work early Monday. So, no go. Well, that didn’t fly with the staff on the plane. And they called in the reinforcements, who beat him down, and pulled him off the plane. Unreal. Un-freaking-real.
Here’s the thing. I can see this happening to Mary and I . She is stubborn enough to refuse to leave her seat. Maybe me too. So what is this flying thing coming to?
I mostly like to fly. I enjoy the flying of it. Being up in the sky, above the clouds. A different look at the world, and all.
But these days, they are making it tough. I completely understand the security thing. I applaud it. I stand by it. I get a personal pat-down, nearly every time I go through a body scanner. Upon entering the U.S. from my last trip from Europe, I was subjected to an extensive body search. It was humiliating and embarrassing. But I understand and I would do this again for the safety of flying.
Beyond that though. There always seems to be a “thing” when you fly. A cancelled flight, a missed connection, the guy who is wheezing to your left. And on your right, the lady from Bakersfield, who needs to tell you about every moment of her 58-year-old-life. Like the time she got the black shoes at half the price of the brown ones, because they were on the floor display. THAT lady. And of course, the couple with the baby screaming, two rows ahead.
And now this. You pay for a seat on a plane. And they beat you and drag you off because you drew the short stick on the bump list. Maybe Trump should think about doing something here in our country about our mishandled airline system, before we go and fix the rest of the world. Perhaps transporting us about, in huge trucks, which are fueled from burning coal. .
But wait. There’s more. Yes, I have some additional bad news. If you are one of those people who get nervous about turbulence during air travel ….. it is going to get worse.
There is a new study from the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading. They found that passenger planes could see up to a 149 percent increase in turbulence. They have cited climate change as the culprit.
We are getting more CO2 in the atmosphere. Carbon Dioxide. As a result, planes will get very bumpy. (The logistics. Planes need vertical wind shear that creates a “resistance” — the CO2 will make this harder for the plane to handle. Hence, turbulence.)
The data breaks down like this: light turbulence, which is common, could see a 59 percent increase; drink-spilling moderate turbulence up to a 94 percent increase; and heavy turbulence a 149 percent increase. That’s worse than the flying house in the Wizard of Oz.
We probably won’t see this anytime soon. Like, later in this century. But it is on the way.
So maybe to avoid all that turbulence, you want to get bumped from that flight. Here are the three worst airlines. Most passengers bumped from flights? The Award goes to:
1. Delta
2. United
3. Southwest
Yeah. Flying is getting harder. The airlines seem to have us over a barrel.
My only advice?
What would Dorothy do? Well. She’d click her heels, and say the mantra. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.
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“Use the wings of the flying Universe,
Dream with open eyes;
See in darkness.”
― Dejan Stojanovic
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“Home isn’t where you’re from, it’s where you find light when all grows dark.”
― Pierce Brown, Golden Son
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