A cold and windy GOOD MORNING!!! to you all! Yup, cold and windy. No Hershey Forward Ambulation this morning. He’s hard core and walks barefoot but with the cold like it was, on that pavement, shoot, I wouldn’t have enjoyed it either.
What Would You Do Wednesday Ed-vise today. Cause it’s WEDNESDAY! And I do love WEDNESDAYS!
Whose got their popcorn and whiskey ready? The verdict from the Rittenhouse trial is a coming!
But, that’s not what I want to chat about today. Maybe tomorrow or Friday.
I want to talk about an issue that I have provided scenarios over and that is violence toward flight attendants. Because Thanksgiving travel is coming and what says “I am Thankful” more than punching a smaller flight attendant in the face and getting a plane grounded? I mean it just seems so ‘Merican, why wouldn’t you?
Recent poll of some 5000 flight attendants said that 85% (85%!!!) have had to deal with an unruly passenger! 85%!!! Of that 85%, 25% have had to deal with the passenger becoming physically violent. The poll indicated that directing people to wear their mask as REQUIRED BY FAA REGULATIONS was the main provocation.
Of the over 4000 incidents only around 20 have ended up with actual fines. One I read about was facing prison time. Like I have quoted before “people are assholes because they are allowed to be.” Which is what we see here.
What can you do?
Talk to people. Have a conversation with the person you are sitting next to. Ask them how they day is going, how was their trip, where they are headed. Actually, as I write this stuff out, start with “Can I ask you a question.” Whenever I have made that statement I have NEVER been denied the opportunity to ask.
Couple things happen when this is done. First, you let this person know you are another human being. If you can introduce yourself to them, by name, now you have become familiar and are less likely to be attacked. The person you are talking to now has someone to talk to. A conversation can get started and away you go. With that person distracted, they are less likely to focus on their problems. In the judo world (and other martial arts) it’s called Kiai.
Second, you can gauge if there is going to be a problem. A person that is going to blow up will have those tones and statements that make your Spidey Sense tingle. You can be at a low stage of readiness for issues that might surface.
Third, you and the other person become less engaged in social media. This is a theory I have. I bet that the people that do the attack have been scrolling social media or news threads to confirm whatever bias they may have toward attacking. By striking up a conversation, you can break that spell for a bit. At least while the flight is in the air.
I will warn everyone who gets a few bowls of loud mouth soup in them and becomes That Guy: if you get the airport bars closed, so help me I will lose my shit! If you are bigger than me, I will pack a bigger lunch so that I can go all day choking you! Don’t get the bars closed people! Airport bars are THE BEST PLACES! I’m looking at you like Joe Pesci looked at Robert De Niro in Casino when De Niro went into Pesci’s restaurant to get Sharon Stone.
I’m just saying
That’s it for today. Take care of yourselves. Check in on each other and remember the story about the pilgrim that slept with a turkey is called 50 Shades of Gravy. HAHAHAHA…ewww…HAHHAHA
Peace
Ed-vise 