Tony Shelton
BS Detector, Esquire
I've traveled all over the west. I've studied the history of numerous old west towns and have visited many of them from Oregon to Texas.
The myth of the "wild" west was started by the early .....fiction...writers trying to sell books and papers with outlandish stories about characters like Billy the Kid and others. It was continued with the movie industry to the point where most everybody believes this myth now.
The fact is and armed society IS a more polite society.
And it goes further than being armed with weapons. A people armed with freedom is also more polite.
The most extreme example is incarceration where all freedom is relinquished. In cases of incarceration the guards will eventually abuse either verbally or physically, or both, the ones who have lost all freedom. There have been studies made of this phenomenon and books written.
We can see this phenomenon in other countries where we interfere and try to force them to "our" way of thinking. The first that comes to mind is the way women are treated in Muslim countries. No Freedom = abuse. That is a far cry from "polite".
Being like the proverbial frog in boiling water, we are closing our eyes to our own freedom being taken away, and as a result society as a whole is less "polite".
Ever wonder why there are so many instances of "flight rage" lately? What has changed? Have people in general changed? No, people as a whole have been pretty much the same for thousands of years. What has changed?
The change is the loss of freedom.
Now that it is an offense to even question the actions of flight attendants, TSA agents and other airline employees we have to fly as incarcerated individuals to our destinations. And we are treated as such.
Does anybody remember what it used to be like to fly?
As I was catching a connecting flight to Denver I encountered lunacy.
There were two passengers left to board the plane. I was on a tight schedule. I had a lunch meeting that gave me just enough time to get from the airport to the lunch. The person behind me was going to a funeral and had a connecting flight with only 20 minutes to make it to the next plane. There were two of us left when they told us we would have to check our bags because there was no more room in the overhead bins.
My first question was, may I put my carryon bag under the seat in front of me and put my backpack in my lap.
No - supposedly against regulations.
I asked why they asked earlier if I would be carrying a child in my lap if having something in your lap is against regulations and they had no answer for that, just "no".
I then suggested I "wear" my backpack on take off and landing -------- "no" apparently against regulations.
Then I showed them how, since my carryon was small and collapsible I could fit them both under the seat in front of me. "no"-----
I put the backpack "in" the carryon. "no", too big they said.
By this time I realized that nothing I said was going to work because the Lady behind me had a little larger carryon and if they said yes to me then they would have to say yes to her. By this point she was already throwing the "f" word around quite a bit.
I explained about the lunch meeting and there was a reason I traveled light and didn't check on luggage. It didn't phase them a bit.
I then had a brainstorm...Why not check them at the door the way they do wheelchairs and strollers and the like. ......."no" -- apparently "against regulations".
By this point the lady behind me had asked for a supervisor and they said they were closing the door in 1 minute. (almost 20 minutes before takeoff time!) She started going ballistic to no avail. At that point I pulled out my phone and asked the lady if she had ever been on youtube and if she would enjoy her debut on there looking like an idiot while I ask her all the same questions again.
She immediately let me through and told me to put the two bags both under the seat in front of me.
As I entered the plane a stewardess in the middle of the plane said "here sir" we have plenty of room here in the middle and directed me to a spot they had cleared with room for at least 5 bags. I told her that the boarding lady had given me a lot of trouble and was currently giving the lady behind me a fit about not having room for even one more piece of carryon.
I walked to to the front and asked to return to the boarding area to let the moron boarding lady know there was plenty of room. Eventually they sent someone up to let the moron know and the lady behind me finally boarded and placed her back next to the three empty spaces. Her face was red and her makeup was running all over the place from crying.
Why are they so incompetent?
Why do the treat us like this?
Because they can.
The government has taken away all our freedom of choice and given them all the power. They don't have to worry about competition because they are all the same thanks to the government.
Someone needs to make a private airline where every customer signs a waiver and not a single soul is searched for anything. That is the right to travel that our forefathers envisioned. Then, those of us who fear the government more than any terrorist can have the freedom to protect our own lives when needed and the freedom to travel as we please.
You can bet that if one airline did it, that many would follow.
Just some thoughts.
The myth of the "wild" west was started by the early .....fiction...writers trying to sell books and papers with outlandish stories about characters like Billy the Kid and others. It was continued with the movie industry to the point where most everybody believes this myth now.
The fact is and armed society IS a more polite society.
And it goes further than being armed with weapons. A people armed with freedom is also more polite.
The most extreme example is incarceration where all freedom is relinquished. In cases of incarceration the guards will eventually abuse either verbally or physically, or both, the ones who have lost all freedom. There have been studies made of this phenomenon and books written.
We can see this phenomenon in other countries where we interfere and try to force them to "our" way of thinking. The first that comes to mind is the way women are treated in Muslim countries. No Freedom = abuse. That is a far cry from "polite".
Being like the proverbial frog in boiling water, we are closing our eyes to our own freedom being taken away, and as a result society as a whole is less "polite".
Ever wonder why there are so many instances of "flight rage" lately? What has changed? Have people in general changed? No, people as a whole have been pretty much the same for thousands of years. What has changed?
The change is the loss of freedom.
Now that it is an offense to even question the actions of flight attendants, TSA agents and other airline employees we have to fly as incarcerated individuals to our destinations. And we are treated as such.
Does anybody remember what it used to be like to fly?
As I was catching a connecting flight to Denver I encountered lunacy.
There were two passengers left to board the plane. I was on a tight schedule. I had a lunch meeting that gave me just enough time to get from the airport to the lunch. The person behind me was going to a funeral and had a connecting flight with only 20 minutes to make it to the next plane. There were two of us left when they told us we would have to check our bags because there was no more room in the overhead bins.
My first question was, may I put my carryon bag under the seat in front of me and put my backpack in my lap.
No - supposedly against regulations.
I asked why they asked earlier if I would be carrying a child in my lap if having something in your lap is against regulations and they had no answer for that, just "no".
I then suggested I "wear" my backpack on take off and landing -------- "no" apparently against regulations.
Then I showed them how, since my carryon was small and collapsible I could fit them both under the seat in front of me. "no"-----
I put the backpack "in" the carryon. "no", too big they said.
By this time I realized that nothing I said was going to work because the Lady behind me had a little larger carryon and if they said yes to me then they would have to say yes to her. By this point she was already throwing the "f" word around quite a bit.
I explained about the lunch meeting and there was a reason I traveled light and didn't check on luggage. It didn't phase them a bit.
I then had a brainstorm...Why not check them at the door the way they do wheelchairs and strollers and the like. ......."no" -- apparently "against regulations".
By this point the lady behind me had asked for a supervisor and they said they were closing the door in 1 minute. (almost 20 minutes before takeoff time!) She started going ballistic to no avail. At that point I pulled out my phone and asked the lady if she had ever been on youtube and if she would enjoy her debut on there looking like an idiot while I ask her all the same questions again.
She immediately let me through and told me to put the two bags both under the seat in front of me.
As I entered the plane a stewardess in the middle of the plane said "here sir" we have plenty of room here in the middle and directed me to a spot they had cleared with room for at least 5 bags. I told her that the boarding lady had given me a lot of trouble and was currently giving the lady behind me a fit about not having room for even one more piece of carryon.
I walked to to the front and asked to return to the boarding area to let the moron boarding lady know there was plenty of room. Eventually they sent someone up to let the moron know and the lady behind me finally boarded and placed her back next to the three empty spaces. Her face was red and her makeup was running all over the place from crying.
Why are they so incompetent?
Why do the treat us like this?
Because they can.
The government has taken away all our freedom of choice and given them all the power. They don't have to worry about competition because they are all the same thanks to the government.
Someone needs to make a private airline where every customer signs a waiver and not a single soul is searched for anything. That is the right to travel that our forefathers envisioned. Then, those of us who fear the government more than any terrorist can have the freedom to protect our own lives when needed and the freedom to travel as we please.
You can bet that if one airline did it, that many would follow.
Just some thoughts.
