Just a little (link) love: Independence week edition
July 6, 2017
How was everyone’s 4th of July weekend, at least in the US? We spent it in the hot hot hot and still feel crispy around our edges.
Mark your calendars for July 11: Amazon Prime Day 2017 – 30 Hours of Deals
Not that you need the warning but, obviously, spend responsibly. That said, you might find some useful deals on July 11th.
I’m considering this one for myself if my old as rocks Kindle is eligible: Get up to $35 off Trade in your Kindle off a new one
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“A lot of flight attendants feel uncomfortable performing essential job functions and responsibilities because one angry person can change our employment status” – this is a natural result of the recent events gone viral. But at the same time, wouldn’t you argue there’s got to be a midpoint between physically assaulting passengers and not doing your jobs?
A useful guide to the best use of Ultimate Rewards points, if you have been stockpiling them like we did.
A nuanced look into the privilege of pretty and complications of being pretty in a society that focuses so much on a specific spectrum defining”pretty”
Poor little flight attendants: they get the blowback from a public that has been pushed beyond endurance.
I personally will not get on an airplane at all. If you can’t get there in a car or on a train, I don’t go. The conditions to which airline travelers are subjected are simply unacceptable.
Most people, evidently, feel they HAVE to fly, whether for their business or for their personal needs or desires. So all the resentment and anger at the outrageous treatment bubble up and get blasted at the nearest target: an airline employee who has no more choice in the matter than we do.
There’s only one way to resolve these issues, and that is for ALL of us to refuse to fly until the sardine-can packing stops, until the arrogant handling in airport lines ceases, until the double-selling of paid-for seats stops. It’s time for Americans to stand up and demand to be treated decently. And not make that demand of some hapless flunky: hit the airlines in the pocket. Boycott airlines!
Alaska and Southwest are reliably good airlines. Not flying is one possible choice but it’s not a good one for us considering poor health, limited time, and so on, so we endure.
There are things elided here:
1. Flight attendants have limited flexibility and a lot of responsibility in terms of providing good service AND fulfilling company policy.
2. If your job requires travel, you can’t tell your employer that you refuse to fly, without a very good (usually medical) reason. Even if your employer is willing to be flexible in terms of how you get where you need to be, and let’s you work remotely as it takes you 2-20x longer to get there, it means you’re giving up your LIFE to do it. More time away from home, partner,kids, etc.
3. Leisure travel by plane, allows people with often limited vacation time, to go places and see friends without losing more time at work OR losing time at their destination.
It’s easy to say people should boycott air travel if you yourself aren’t required to do so in the same way most business travelers are, or if you have the privilege of flexibility, or don’t care if you can see friends without taking unpaid days off or cutting short your time with them.
But it’s also incredibly privileged to act as though your choice is one that’s reasonable, en masse, rather than considering what is a practical method of effecting change.