Flying the Friendly Skies

Do you remember flying the friendly skies years ago?  So much has changed in air travel since the good old days.  And don't you yearn for them again...just a little bit?

I remember my first time on an airplane.  I was in the 8th grade and was flying to Washington D.C. with my folks and two of my siblings.  Everything was so exciting!  And it all seemed so grown up and elegant.  Taking off from the Cincinnati Airport, we breezed through check-in, with ticket in hand, and walked out, onto the tarmac and up the steps to the plane. As we boarded the plane, we were greeted by young and attractive "stewardesses".  If memory serves me right, the passengers were dressed up, like they were going somewhere important.   We were seated and told "to fasten our seat belts"... a new concept.  Remember?   We didn't have seat belts in our cars in the 60's.  We weren't in our seats for long, and were served a "meal".  It didn't matter the time of the flight, a meal or a substantial snack was served on most flights.  How fun!  It didn't matter that it wasn't fine cuisine, it was something new and different.  We were settled in for what was going to be a great trip.

How things have changed!  On a recent trip, as we waited in line for bags to be checked, I thought back to those simpler times.  Whoever would've thought...that we'd be charged extra for bags?  That we would have to go through a "security check", where we would be scanned and probed?  That we'd be greeted by older women...and men, instead of the stewardesses from the "Coffee, Tea, or Me" days?  That people would be cramming full-sized luggage into the overhead compartments to avoid paying those baggage fees?   That most of my fellow passengers would be in sweats and jeans?  That, after using seat belts in our cars for 40 years, we'd still be hearing an explanation on how to use them?  That we'd have peanuts and pretzels thrown at us, instead of those fun meals?  

I know a lot of these changes had to happen, because of circumstances beyond our control, like 9/11.  And some of them just because of the way things are.... Folks don't get that dressed up anymore...the airlines, facing high oil prices, have to charge more...and serve less... I sound like an old-timer, I know....longing for the good old days....  Change is good...most of the time, I guess.  More people fly than ever before and that's a good thing.  

But forgive me if, instead of listening to the seat belt instructions, I just sit there, in my slacks and sweater, anxiously awaiting my peanuts.