Talking yesterday with a family planning the funeral for their father who had been heavily involved in travel, we recalled the halcyon days of air travel. I can no longer recall exactly when those faded, but economics are certainly behind the why. Various fuel shortages have taken their toll, and the more recent economic nose dive further shriveled the already austere experience. Perhaps air travel is also victim of its own popularity, with more and more flights added to create more and more convenient schedules to accommodate more and more travelers, necessitating more and more planes creating more and more congestion causing more and more delays... Terrorism certainly didn't help any, with all the rules and restrictions imposed to counter it.
But, as we were remembering together, there was a time when air travel was fun – back in the time when people dressed up to get on the plane instead of today’s requirements to undress in order to do so; back when you could carry onto those portly jetliners almost any exotic souvenir you might pick up along the way; and feel pampered throughout the flight, instead of shoehorned like a size 14 foot into your size 6 loafer of a seat.
It's ironic that the "new" game in town for getting from here to Chicago is...a bus -- outfitted with chair-side electrical sockets and internet connectivity. And we are rediscovering the train -- plenty of legroom, and space to walk around. And a view. Of course it has its compromises as well -- limited schedule, delays, and cumbersome, impractical connections -- but at least while boarding and riding I don't feel filleted, irradiated, hermetically sealed and stacked in intimate contact with my fellow travelers in an upright fetal position.
Ah, well. Everything has its price. But it was fun to remember a different time, and lament at least certain elements of its passing.
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