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April 29, 2016
Why do we board planes?
The sublimity of the act is heightened by the earthly mess around it. On arriving at the airport, you push your way through snarled security lines—the shoes, the belt, the laptop, the canopic bag of fluids—and purchase a day-old ciabatta sandwich. You sit and read, glancing at a suspended screen that seems to play only disaster news and weather reports from the Midwest. You hear your boarding announcement: more queues and lost elderly people with enormous bags. The airplane seems to hail from the same era as your old dishwasher, which conked out last year. The guy beside you has a wide stance and an overmedicated gaze that suggests he will drool during his sleep. It has been three hours since you left home, and you are still waiting. Has the Internet Made Air Travel Irrelevant? - The New Yorker
Posted by gerardvanderleun at April 29, 2016 5:15 PM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.
Your Say
Has the Internet Made Air Travel Irrelevant?
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No, the gov't has.
My last commercial flight was from anchorage to seattle on western airlines, I had 3 guns, 300 rds of ammo, several knives, and a weeks worth of garments, in the cabin with me, and that flight cost $99. That was in 1980.
Posted by: ghostsniper ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://americandigest.org/sidelines/nav-commenters.gif)
at April 29, 2016 6:05 PM
Some things you still can't do over the net. My recent trip back to the state where I was born to see elderly relatives, perhaps for the last time, could not have been done virtually because these folks aren't on line, never have been, and never will be. I could have driven, and next time (if there is one) I probably will, but flying reduces my one-way travel time from two long days to five hours, inclusive of flight time, drive time, TSA grope time, and waiting at the gate time. To me, that's a fair trade-off.
Posted by: waltj at April 30, 2016 1:55 PM
I enjoy long range driving for the most part, always have. It's the journey, not the destination, I enjoy the most. I'm all eyeballs all over the place when I drive. Gotta see it all. The best road trip was from Buffalo to Seattle. From San Diego to Tampa was OK but the northen route was the best for me. Up the east coast was OK and down the west coast was OK too. I want to do all of it again, this time on a 3 wheeled Honda Aspencade, alone, and take 6 months to do it. Thats my whole bucket list right there.
Posted by: ghostsniper at April 30, 2016 6:26 PM
We "board" planes because our ancestors boarded ships.
They literally walked across planks of wood to "get on board".
Posted by: Speller at April 30, 2016 9:10 PM