Happy Holidays? Yes Indeed!

My glass and things like this blog have taken a back seat, actually a seat in the back row of the bus lately, my kids have been home! My younger son Kyle who lives in Washington DC, and my older son Andrew and his wife Diana who live in Nagai Japan have been here for the past two and a half weeks. It's been great having them around, but unfortunately they all leave this weekend.

I have unfinished business from my last post...

He really didn't know howWith the many opportunities I have to critique them I have my own opinions about what is and isn't necessary in airline flight attendant patter. The first on my list of "really not helpful" is the instructions that go something like "insert the metal clip in the buckle and pull on the loose strap to tighten the seatbelt across your lap". I mean really, the only people who don't know how to buckle a seatbelt are from third world countries and don't speak English, right? On a recent flight there was a 20-something young man sitting next to me, judging by the book he was reading, a native English-speaking college student. To my amazement he couldn't figure out how to fasten his seatbelt. He poked the metal clip at the buckle in a variety of ways, all except the right way. I stand corrected, not everyone knows how to buckle a seatbelt, probably because airpland seatbelts are pretty primative compared to current automobile varieties. I still maintain that telling people how to do is isn't necessary, it didn't help him.

Jobs for jokers or not I am all for enjoying our jobs. Where I work we engage in "bowling" during every holiday season that spawns small round chocolates. We have a verrry long hallway, and are able to create a 60 foot alley with a seasonally appropriate target at the end, most recently a Santa that we try to roll the candy to. It's a nice harmless way to have a few laughs with a distraction that lasts just a few minutes.

There are some jobs suitable for jokers and clowns, waiters, perhaps. There are others whose services I depend or may depend on in the future in which I really don't want jokers. This list includes surgeons, accountants, lawyers and PILOTS.

With the new larger planes on my most frequent flying route has come a new set of pilots. A couple of times lately I have had a joker for a pilot. He has a stuffed penguin hanging on what would be the rear view mirror of a car, OK, I can let him have that. As the doors are closed he plays the sound of a train whistle and says "all aboard, welcome aboard the Portland Trailblazer Express" and some other train-type stuff. Shouldn't he be doing some pre-flight checklist stuff? Fast forward to the beginning of descent, agaoin the train whistle..."next stop Portland station, exit to the left, platform one". Again isn't there something more important that he should be doing? If it was a flight attendant, maybe, but pilot, no!