tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post4578686591186872836..comments2024-03-28T20:02:35.777-04:00Comments on Murder is Everywhere: People You Hate on PlanesOvidia Yuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05749549092493567689noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-51945953388395891452017-02-13T16:36:28.735-05:002017-02-13T16:36:28.735-05:00You're too kind...though it does sound like a ...You're too kind...though it does sound like a caper for Charlie....Jeffrey Sigerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00718317707555064653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-43512392313774370562017-02-13T15:08:35.156-05:002017-02-13T15:08:35.156-05:00Smoked to death in a salmon smoker?Smoked to death in a salmon smoker?Zoë Sharphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14065427744062846167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-38767047353287970962017-02-12T21:42:02.952-05:002017-02-12T21:42:02.952-05:00I'd venture to say a fellow I once knew is a l...I'd venture to say a fellow I once knew is a likely sure thing for your list. Back before the "no smoking" days of airline travel, he always sat in the smoking section to avoid "noisy" children. And if a child should happen to sit in the row in front of him, he'd blow smoke between the seats until the parents convinced a flight attendant to move them away from the smoker. <br /><br />I'm sure you--or Charlie--could come up with a suitable talion.<br /><br /><br /> Jeffrey Sigerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00718317707555064653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-26556700269855143872017-02-12T18:47:54.150-05:002017-02-12T18:47:54.150-05:00Reminds me of a lovely story about Douglas Adams, ...Reminds me of a lovely story about Douglas Adams, he of HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE fame. He did a book about endangered species and flew to all sorts of odd places to see them. At one point he went to Bali to look at Komodo dragons, and commented that he was a little nervous about flying with Balinese Airways, as he'd heard they bought all their planes second-hand from Air Uganda ...Zoë Sharphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14065427744062846167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-39330052412789683372017-02-12T13:13:32.500-05:002017-02-12T13:13:32.500-05:00Given that the odds of dying in a commercial plane...Given that the odds of dying in a commercial plane crash are about 1:11,000,000, I choose to avoid being next to the back loo - whatever the other stats are.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-5195500540004848722017-02-12T13:01:08.708-05:002017-02-12T13:01:08.708-05:00that should, of course be 'were' not '...that should, of course be 'were' not 'where'<br /><br />bad writer, no biscuit ...Zoë Sharphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14065427744062846167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-66200202577308055372017-02-12T13:00:19.331-05:002017-02-12T13:00:19.331-05:00Whereas on a rollercoaster you get more air-time a...Whereas on a rollercoaster you get more air-time at the front, but more G-force at the back.<br /><br />Somebody once told me that the last row of seats on a plane, right next to the loos, where only good for people who either suffered from diarrhoea, or wanted to meet other people who did. Zoë Sharphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14065427744062846167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-49499552136179349412017-02-12T12:57:24.280-05:002017-02-12T12:57:24.280-05:00Agreed! There are not many times when being of the...Agreed! There are not many times when being of the vertically challenged persuasion is a useful trait, but flying on commercial airlines is one of them.Zoë Sharphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14065427744062846167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-64803108770700773182017-02-12T04:59:05.598-05:002017-02-12T04:59:05.598-05:00The data support the belief that the further back ...The data support the belief that the further back in the plane you are, the better your chances of survival. For two reasons: energy is absorbed by the plane collapsing in front of you; the tail section usually breaks off, leaving it away from the inevitable fire.<br /><br />It is also the most uncomfortable! Sigh.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-29658459295890826772017-02-12T04:56:47.037-05:002017-02-12T04:56:47.037-05:00Unfortunately it's difficult to create an excl...Unfortunately it's difficult to create an exclusion zone on planes these days.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-39027261132473189182017-02-12T04:18:36.308-05:002017-02-12T04:18:36.308-05:00You have my sympathies, Annamaria. To have a talke...You have my sympathies, Annamaria. To have a talker next to you -- but one to whom you have to be extra polite -- must make flying a nightmare.<br /><br />Best to feign sleep. Or even coma.Zoë Sharphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14065427744062846167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-81647015402355421592017-02-12T04:16:03.595-05:002017-02-12T04:16:03.595-05:00Oh, and the best way to get a table to yourself on...Oh, and the best way to get a table to yourself on a cross-channel ferry, I found years ago, was to anxiously ask for extra sick bags. That normally creates an exclusion zone around you fairly quickly.Zoë Sharphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14065427744062846167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-30758967571905951602017-02-12T04:14:30.552-05:002017-02-12T04:14:30.552-05:00There was a piece on the news a couple of days ago...There was a piece on the news a couple of days ago about two lawyers who ended up having a fistfight over the armrest on a flight. Yes, I've seen those anti-recline devices and they're fine as long as the person in front of *him* doesn't recline. Zoë Sharphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14065427744062846167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-37011747075851503272017-02-12T04:11:26.059-05:002017-02-12T04:11:26.059-05:00Yes, the drag of actually getting onto the plane h...Yes, the drag of actually getting onto the plane has taken the shine off the fun of it, although I have to say that the view of the ground from the air is one of the things I've always loved about it.Zoë Sharphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14065427744062846167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-29279326322655993752017-02-12T03:55:27.195-05:002017-02-12T03:55:27.195-05:00Oh yes, Zoe, all of the above. My most difficult t...Oh yes, Zoe, all of the above. My most difficult times where these: a flight from San Francisco to Singapore with a talker next to me who's only reading materials were fashion magazines and who insisted on telling me all about her favorite fashion models. That flight also involved an unexpected twelve-hour layover in Honolulu while we waited for a replacement piece of the aircraft to arrive from the mainland<br />The other was a scaredy cat who insisted on sitting in the very rear of the aircraft where any turbulence is felt much more violently then say over the wings. She worked for a company who had had employees on a flight that crashed at JFK. The only people saved where her colleagues three men who had been in the very last seats of the plane. She believed that she was safer in the tail of the plane, but she was also terrified whenever the plane shook and those white knuckles were on hands that were gripping my arm. I flew with her often because she like the fashionista was a client. When the intolerable person in the seat next to you is your client,… well, you get the picture. Annamaria Alfierihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12311596277267789834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-91585595458675438982017-02-12T02:10:32.785-05:002017-02-12T02:10:32.785-05:00Zoë, I agree, I agree. However, being a tall lad ...Zoë, I agree, I agree. However, being a tall lad who travels between 50K and 75L air miles a year, I'm particularly sensitive to legroom, or the lack thereof. Consequently I work hard at finding a seat that has some. Obviously there are many times I can't, then my fear is the person in the seat in front of me who snaps their seatback back, at great speed, without warning. (For a small price, I'm willing to show anyone my scarred patellae!) This happens even when I ask the person before take-off (which I always do) to warn me beforehand. The good news, I guess, is that legroom is becoming so scarce that some airlines are fixing the setbacks so they can't be moved. <br /><br />The other issue that I have hear about but never witnessed is the passenger who has acquired a device to prevent the seat in front from being reclined. The result is predictable: the man (usually a man) screaming that he has the right to recline; the person behind (always a man) screaming that he has a right to travel without a seatback in his face.<br /><br />I'm pleased I'm not a flight attendant these days. <br /><br />Even though flying is no fun these days, travelling as I do by boat would be even worse, as I suffer from mal de mer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-32958170428004851572017-02-12T01:03:33.195-05:002017-02-12T01:03:33.195-05:00Good god, Zoë, I'm glad you love to fly. Some...Good god, Zoë, I'm glad you love to fly. Someone has to keep the airlines afloat. (Why don't we have to keep the cruise lines aloft...???) I certainly hope the destinations have always been more than worth the getting there. I lost my love of flying some time back in the early 1990s.Everett Kaserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12371555243187874414noreply@blogger.com