Community Chat

[Ladybug724]

But isn't this the goal of the terrorists?  To scare us out of living our lives?  I know it's scary but we can't live in fear.  I refuse to give them what they want.

[NYC Susan]

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@Suzeecat wrote:

If it weren't for air travel, I might never see my son, his wife and my granddaughter again.  I'll take my chances.  I just can't live my life around the "what ifs".

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Exactly.  

I worked in the World Trade Center.  Many, many people died there who were not flying. Anything can happen anywhere.  Avoiding flying is no guarantee of anything.  

And you would be better off flying if you were off on a flight and a bomb exploded at your office building at home.  Terrorism doesn't just happen on planes.  It can happen anywhere.

[italia8140]

I don't either. I've flown MANY trimes in the past to Europe, South America, Mexico, and lots of places in the U.S. Now, it's a MAJOR hassle. The planes are always full, and it's uncomfortable. Glad I did it in the past when it was a pleasant experience.

[Lila Belle]

I won't be deterred. I flew home from barcelona 9/15/01. Flew after the shoe and underwear guys and I'll be flying with my family for the holidays. It's a hassle sometimes but that hasn't stopped us either.

[ROMARY]

It would be very stressful (for me).  I've been on enough planes and have visited all of the places that I wanted to see.  Now I enjoy them watching Rick Steve's travel shows.  And, he does throw in a lot of history information, describing the architecture, etc.  Also, occasionally there is a PBS TV program/video that shows the castles and countryside from above, with beautiful music in the background.  Something we can't see while being/driving on land.

[shoekitty]

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@italia8140 wrote:

I don't either. I've flown MANY trimes in the past to Europe, South America, Mexico, and lots of places in the U.S. Now, it's a MAJOR hassle. The planes are always full, and it's uncomfortable. Glad I did it in the past when it was a pleasant experience.

Shoekitty said

I remember the old days when flying was such a treat.  Man, they treated you like Queens and Kings!  They got you pillows, blankets, served meals, and really good snacks.    I remember getting a menu!  Can you believe that?  If it was lunch time, they gave a pretty nice sandwich on a short flight (1 hour).  You got a three course meal on longer flights, with dessert!~  The stewardesses came by in their Halston uniforms, with their caps neatly pinned, skirts an exact length and  immaculate hair styles. They were checked before every flight, nails, hair, stocking, etc had to be perfect and in order, or they went on report!.  OMG, they even wore heels! Now the stewardesses come by in scruffy pants and unflattering tops, hair down and "unique" and throw a bag of peanuts on the tray.  They serve coffee, juice and drinks on some flights.  But I have been on short flights where they have served nothing.

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Halston and

pucci designed uniform (braniff airline)

[chiclet]

I never liked flying under the best of circumstances but now with the wait, close seats, luggage cost and aggravation and bombs I really hate it.  I will not do it again unless I have to do it for some reason. 

[gardenman]

Life is full of trade-offs. Flying could be made safer by no longer carrying luggage, carry on bags, and cargo on the same plane as passengers. With baggage fees it's often cheaper to ship your luggage on Fed-Ex/UPS than to fly with it. For even more safety, have every passenger strip down and leave their personal effects in a locker at the departure airport and wear a disposable coverall on the flight. A plane built with no cargo/storage space could be lighter and more efficient too. Those trade-offs for safety would be too extreme for most people however.

I've never really understood terrorists' fascination with planes when attacking foreign targets. There are much easier targets to hit that could yield far more in the way of victims. Theaters showing the new Star Wars movies will be packed. Crowds leaving sporting events are easy targets. Black Friday crowds would be easy targets. Cruise ships are pretty vulnerable. Why the fascination with planes? It's great for our security people, but if we ever run into smart terrorists, we could be in big trouble.