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| Photo from CDC on Unsplash |
Didja hear that shoe removal is no longer required when going through airport security? Now, mind you, it has been, shall we say, a teensy overreaction to the one and only incident involving a would-be shoe bomber 20 years ago, but we all bought into the fear that someone’s beat-up Keds might harbor an explosive device, so off came our shoes! In recent years, those with TSA clearance did NOT need to free their tootsies (which to me rendered the whole exercise useless—what, a possible shoe bomber COULDN'T have TSA clearance?) But I do look forward to one less step (get it?) in the air travel process.
It did get me thinking of regulations and rituals around the flight experience. We’re still stuck on the 3.4 oz of liquid in carry-ons (though that too might change soon). I remember returning home from our mission trip to New Orleans, and one of the youth had purchased a can of alligator meat as a souvenir. Guess what? Canned gator counts as a liquid (I guess because of the way it’s preserved?) Josh was so sad as the agent rather gleefully threw the can away.
We still have to sit through the presentation about the lights in the aisles and the slide and the inflatable seat cushions, even though we’d all instantly perish in the event of a crash into the sea anyway. And I am positive I’d put the oxygen mask on my kid before my own, ensuring we’d both pass out. Just not well-equipped for emergency decisions, that’s me.
I have been grateful for improved airline safety over the years, though now we are backpedaling on that by firing 99% of the air traffic controllers. Soon the flight attendant will start assigning the window seat people the task of watching out for other planes about to hit us.
And, not to sound all Andy Rooney, but whatever happened to our FOOD on the plane? I have never flown anything but economy, yet vividly recall actual hot meals served, even on flights between New York and Atlanta. True, they weren’t the tastiest, but they were at least a small perk. Recently, I flew nonstop from Philly to Seattle. WE GOT NOTHING. Not even those horrendous Biscoff cookies! And the beverage cart made one, breathtakingly brief, appearance. But that was OK, I was too distracted by the pain in my legs from being doubled up in my seat, to worry about nourishment! Extra leg room now costs…extra! It won’t be long before they start charging to sit down (we’ll all be standing like on the subway, holding onto overhead straps during turbulence.)
Believe me, I am grateful that the Wright Brothers figured all this out. We’re headed to Southeast Asia in the fall, and I have no idea how else we’d get there (swimming not an option; I can’t swim). And I do appreciate that one item, a prior staple, has largely disappeared.
Anyone miss barf bags? I didn’t think so.
