European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 8, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Columns Jet powered excuses keep air passengers entertained by Dave Barry Knight Ridder news paper nervous nervous sol forget ill i am Mil the least Liny Lille bit nervous about engaging in air travel these Clu ill becomes airborne As evidenced by recent news reports of Plant s whose engines were turned Riff when they were not in Diacci personal con Larl with the ground planes la King off without important mechanical parts such As wings planes bound to l exin Glon ky., but Landing due to navigational error in the lost continent of Atlantis Elc. Bui really bother me is the pilots. When i was a boy All the pilots were Mut h older than i him. But in recent years there has been .1 disturbing trend you May have noticed this Reward pilots my own Ace. I happen Lobo my own age and i would never place a person null .15 myself in a position of responsibility. I live in constant fear thai one Day i m going to get on an air plane and there in the cockpit wearing. Uniform and frowning at the instruments will be somebody i went to High school with somebody like Billy Kirb wond who once at the halloween dance on purpose set fire to his own hair. Anco let s Nal oven talk about what happens to Luggage. I m going to have a Little Slicker made up you can Check my lug Gaff. When you pry my Colp dead fingers off the handle. Everybody feels this . Everybody carries everything on Board. You see people stuffing Barc loungers into to overhead Racks. True anecdote recently the remains of pal Eddie Slovik the Only american exr Tuuri for desertion during world War ii were supposed to be. Flown via Twa from new York a Detroit so naturally they wound open san f ran dirt. This happened. Fortunately somebody to track pvt Slovik Down before be earned a frequent flier Bonus trip to the far fast. Meanwhile Here in the Atlanta Airport we Are gelling our safety lecture. In the unlikely event Hal we make it As far As a body of Waler before we crash the flight Atli is saying you can use your complimentary snack to repel next to me the Eastern pilots nne of whom is fms question about Al Younik i am Are looking at the Little safely card from the Barf bag pocket and icy arc laughing at in. This is the or la. I ask them what is so funny and i hey Point l tin diagram of the plane floating or kill on lop of the water like a giant inflatable Pool toy while the passengers alertly Rescue themselves. You mean the plane won t re 1 ask. Listen one of them Wys. I i plane floats about As Well As a beat finally Days later we take off. The Pilot is talking on the intercom. Folks he is saying on behalf of your entire flight Crew let me uses in i hat i am Selling fire to my i Hope the beverage cart gels Hiff soon. It in t always Best to be right All the time by miss manners United future Syndicate dear miss manners i try my Best to be honest in All things and t want my children to conduct themselves honestly. The problem is thai very often my 1 0-year-old daughter listens White i speak with friends and she has the habit of correcting me when she feels i have said something Thal was t quite right. I feel this is rude. Besides interrupting my line of thought in spoils my enjoyment of the conversation because very often she Hai the fact wrong and when i politely iry to Tell her this she argues with me. I have told her that if the feels i have made an error the should Correct me privately As i hint a child should t be correcting an adult anyhow if she happen to be right would this make correcting me publicly All Rigoll gentle Reader please Stop this child before she grows up to drive her husband and everyone else crazy by interrupting stories to say no dear it was tuesday not correcting other people in social conversation is rude allowing an unimportant mistake to pass without comment is a difficult but wonderful social Grace. If the supposed error is a serious one because in spoils i he Story or misleads people on significant mailers a polite person even a child can question the speaker wednesday Are you suite i though election Day was a tuesday this is still a nuisance but at least it does t insult the speaker s memory or moral commitment to t he truth. Dear miss manners when i look my close Friend Bill and i a couple of about 60, to lunch at a restaurant where 1 have been their guest we were served by a polite and inconspicuous waitress Bui shortly into the meat i ordered wine thai was served by a Young woman who seemed to be the hostess. While she a hovering Over us with the wine service my friends and i were engaged in a spirited but certainly not loud or especially attention drawing conversation about a local political and cultural Issue. Bill and i were informing me about the interests involved in this project. The hostess suddenly blurted into our conversation with her own corroboration of the situation. Although i manage to contain my dismay pretty Well i was offended and disgusted at this intrusion. When we left the restaurant this same woman needed once More to extend an unwanted remark. This is just one of Many examples of amazing presumption or outright rudeness that i have endured in restaurants in recent years. It is possible that i am just not in tune with the times. Could it be that nowadays a visit to even a Fine restaurant Obligee the guests o socialize with the hired help to listen to their opinions and to have their private conversations interrupted is this bad etiquette or am i at age 44, just a fusty old Yankee Fuddy Duddy gentle Reader what an unfortunate situation this is All around. Miss manners doubts that the hostess really wanted to join your party in addition to her other duties. She we As much As you the victim of the current belief that the Only Choice people have in sealing with one another no Mailer what i he circumstances Are Friendly or surly. We have All been the victims of surly service and agree we Don t care fur it. Friendly service such As you Dek rib is slightly easier to Lake and Al least meant Well. Luil a nuisance nevertheless and jut As undignified for everyone concerned. If the hostess Houghl about it. She would Realie that she could Lake More Pride in her professionalism if she weft nol pretending Tibai the customer were her friends. A Job should not make one forfeit the right to select Tine s own friends for purely social reasons. Interruptions such Asen Joy your meal or compliments require onry a nod on a tour part after which you should pointedly return your Alle Linn to your friends but an attempt to enter your conversation might need to be discouraged with a puzzled look and failure to acknowledge the contribution or a polite excuse us we came Here to have a Chance to talk in one miss manners Hopes this does not sound unduly harsh to one whose intentions were kind but who confused professional cheerfulness with phony Friendship. Dear miss manners my wife and invited our golfing partners to have a drink in the 19th Hole after a round of got at our club. The Selling was very Catill and our partners were our social Peers although the lady was somewhat younger Early 40s than my wife Early 50s. The Ladiet arrive Dat the lounge from Miheli Locier room together before the other gentleman selected a table and held a chair for the other lady. While l seating her my wife sealed herself. Later she criticized me saying i should have sealed her first could you provide Tome general guideline Lor a gentleman who find himself having to Deal with two ladies when one is Hii wife and the other it a a hostess b a guest c a Mutual Friend id a "swe1 Young thing e.g., ton i Girlfriend e a client f a Lenl i wife obviously one must be on one s Best behaviour in these cases and e tra careful to maintain proper decorum and Demeanour. Gentle Reader some people hold bizarre notion that i he order in which a gentleman offers courtesies to laches should correspond to the amount of affection in Whit h he holds them. Oddly enough the people who hold this mistaken belief Are All wives of gentlemen Vvhs Shii behaviour is in question. Rather one puts one s own family list fihe i eni Leman were serving drinks or dinner at Home he would serve ladies who were guests before the hostess. In this example All other ladies a through f unless in is so Young As to be classified a j child should be seated before you charmingly Seal your own wife. However a nimble., gentleman ought to be Able to seat two ladies without having one of them Wail unduly. Lori Phi i Giuins of Tobt i 1317
