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Open thread 9/4/23 — 31 Comments

  1. We have been in many international airports and the Flight Attendant’s attire for Foreign airlines are very stylist and feminine.

    I guess we may be headed back to wearing Masks while flying. During the last time I was in United Business class and they have the little cubicles with fully reclining seats. Several time while trying to get some sleep the attendant would come by and remind me to keep my mask on. So I finally pulled the blanket over my head and took the mask off.

  2. The first flight attendants were male, not female. The very first flight attendant was a German named Heinrich Kubis (1888–1979), who survived the Hindenburg disaster by jumping out a window. Here’s a YouTube short about early male flight attendants, who were called stewards:

    https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yB5cJdXvbqQ

    And here’s another short that uses men rather than women in its caricatures: If Airlines Were People:
    https://www.youtube.com/shorts/JAAO8hKtmAw

  3. Just another open-thread comment about something I read.

    I’m not usually a big fan of government regulation, but the case of Worldcoin cryptocurrency might be an exception to the rule. Compare two articles from IEEE Spectrum. One was published about nine months ago, the other about a week ago. It makes me wonder about AI regulation. Is it possible that clumsy governments enacting ill-conceived regulations might actually do some good? I’ll have to ask ChatGPT.

    “In a college classroom in the Indian city of Bangalore last August, Moiz Ahmed held up a volleyball-size chrome globe with a glass-covered opening at its center. Ahmed explained to the students that if they had their irises scanned with the device, known as the Orb, they would be rewarded with 25 Worldcoins, a soon-to-be released cryptocurrency. The scan, he said, was to make sure they hadn’t signed up before. That’s because Worldcoin, the company behind the project, wants to create the most widely and evenly distributed cryptocurrency ever by giving every person on the planet the same small allocation of coins.” (December 22, 2022)
    link: https://spectrum.ieee.org/worldcoin

    “Worldcoin launched, then came the backlash. The globe-spanning cryptocurrency and biometric-identity project has agitated regulators.” (August 28, 2023)
    link: https://spectrum.ieee.org/worldcoin-2664361259

  4. Cute video. To represent the present though, the models would have to become 30 years older or male.

  5. We get JAL flight crews here a couple times a week. So different from domestic flight attendants. All very feminine. All young and pretty women, in a Japanese sort of way (no gay guys whatsoever). Uniforms are white and cream, with knee length skirts. Little bows in their hair – light blue and cream. I think that the light blue may be the leads, but not sure.

  6. Rank order of preference for me:

    (1) Brunette’s outfit for 2000s
    (2) 1950s
    (3) 1990s

    Rest, uninteresting.

  7. IIRC, I first traveled by air in the early 1980s, and occasionally in every decade since then. Always domestic, save for a single trip to Scotland in the late 1990s. I have never seen a flight attendant wearing anything that even resembles any of those outfits. Most of the time they wear fairly quiet, understated-but-businesslike uniforms in the airline’s colors.

    For my part, I wish American airlines were as creative as New Zealand Air:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBlRbrB_Gnc

  8. Back when I lived in West Port, K.C., there was a stewardess college around 33rd & Broadway. They had two permanent hotels across from the Payless and I watched bevies of lovelies in their uniforms.

    Oh, and there were never any captain layovers. Very strict – nine or ten I think. The two girls I knew who went there said they loved the life.

  9. Speaking of flight attendants. On my second trip to Kosovo, circa late 2005, my National Guard unit flew in contracted civilian aircraft, complete with civilian flight attendants. I remember the one in my section of the plane was attractive.
    The funny thing was we had to stow all knives in the baggage in the belly of the planes. FAA regulations, as I recall. But we carried our firearms on the planes and were instructed to stow them under our seats.
    Due to the fact that I had mobilized and joined my unit late, due to a previous deployment , the fact that I was actually on my way out and had to “sign back up” and a deal I made with the leadership, when I joined my unit the supply sergeant had already sent all unissued rifles ahead to Kosovo. So I was temporarily issued a pump 12 gauge shotgun for the flight over. Probably be the only time in my whole life I get to legally carry a shotgun onto a civilian airline!
    After 9-11, I ended up on duty at Love Field in Dallas. During break time , we could go into the Chili’s at the airport and order food. I kept thinking to myself, this is the only time in my life I will be able to walk into a Chilli’s with an M-16 and not get arrested.

  10. RE: Vivek Ramaswamy’s vision for America

    I urge people to watch this very enlightening interview.

    While I think that Trump–warts and all–may still be the only conservative candidate who is tough enough and has the financial resources sufficient to stand up to the Left, and to potentially win another term as President, in the interview below Ramaswamy is very intelligent and articulate, and he presents a brilliant analysis of what is wrong with the U.S. and, indeed, Western culture in general, which rings very true, as do his proposed solutions.*

    I would vote for him if I could be persuaded that he is tough enough to weather the shit storm that the Left would throw at him if he became a real contender, and if he had a reasonable chance of becoming President.

    Trump is a tough and often canny guy, he has the street smarts, and in comparison to the Left is sorta conservative, but Ramaswamy has the intellect and the vision.

    But does Ramaswamy have the absolutely necessary canniness, toughness, and can he raise the resources, and get the visibility and voter buy in he would need to win?

    * See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es5AWr5GlaM

  11. cb:

    Amazing, aluminum alloy wheels burn when the tires are on fire in a firestorm. Polyurethane foam seat cushions and largely plastic interior car furnishings burn in a firestorm. That is totally unexpected. (sarc)

    Nope it must have been a directed energy (microwave?) attack. (sarc x11) Why not blame UFOs and aliens (extraterresterisls (the malign species) not Haoles)?

  12. A tip toe through the tulips.

    My airline career was from 1968 to 1993. The airline I worked for was about as conservative as an airline can be. The flight attendants’ uniforms were always a form of female (and later male) business suit. Colors changed, fabrics changed, but the business-like look stayed.

    When I began, all flight attendants were women under 30 years of age and single. They also were subject to monthly weight checks to encourage a svelte look. By 1971, that had all changed. Women and men were being hired and there were no restrictions on being married, pregnant, gay, or overweight. Ah, diversity.

    Many people think the flight attendants are there for serving food and making them comfortable. Actually, the FAA requires them to be on board to open the doors and enhance the evacuation procedures in emergencies. They are also trained in handling medical emergencies and disruptive passengers. Food and snack service is just an additional duty.

    Having male flight attendants on board decreased the number of times a male pilot from the cockpit
    had to go into the cabin to handle passenger issues. I liked that quite a bit.

    In 1970, I was flying Second Officer on a B-727 from LAX to SAN (San Diego). A quick forty-minute flight blocks to blocks.

    We had just leveled off at 10,000 feet a when a flight attendant knocked furiously on the door. She said some men were drinking their own beer and threatened her when she told them to stop.

    “Go take care of it, J.J.” said the captain.

    I put on my hat (signal of authority) and headed into the cabin. It was a bad time for the airlines. We had only about ten pax on board. The beer drinkers were way back in coach by themselves.

    As I approached them, it became apparent that both were huge men. So, I stopped about two rows from them and said, as authoritatively as possible, “Gentlemen, I’m sorry to tell you that it’s against t federal regulations for you to drink your own beer on the airplane. If you don’t stop, we’ll have to have the FBI arrest you when we get to San Diego.”

    The man nearest the aisle began to unbuckle his seat belt and rise out of his seat. He was BIG. My brain went into overdrive trying to estimate if I could beat him to the cockpit. My reptilian brain told me flight was useless and to prepare to fight. Actually, to prepare to get beat up. 🙁

    But the man’s buddy reached up and grabbed his arm as he said, “Charlie, I don’t think we want problems with the FBI.” The other man hesitated and then sat back down.

    My knees went weak as relief flooded through my body. I smiled and said, “We really appreciate your cooperation, gentlemen. We’ll be on the ground in about fifteen minutes, and you can have your beer then.” Oh, yes! 🙂

    After we arrived at the gate in San Diego, the two men were the last off the airplane. It was clear from their gym bag carry-ons that they were linemen for the San Diego Chargers. The one who had decided they didn’t want to mess with the FBI, stopped at the cockpit door and said, “We didn’t know about them regs, Captain. Sorry to cause a problem.”
    I thanked them again for their cooperation and wished them a winning season. I was truly thankful that violence had been avoided.

    I had several other adventures with passengers over the years, but this one sticks out as the most memorable.

  13. That is some America’s Got Talent worthy quick changing.

    My teenage peer group would visit SFO simply to see the pretty women. And, occasionally, ride the luggage conveyor belt down into the basement.

    There were some hustlers and con men, but nothing like the Greyhound bus station in downtown San Francisco. That place was crazy.

  14. Couple of F/A stories.
    My airline career started after Reagan de-regulated. I was 50 years old. Ancient.
    I was with the colorful, but short lived, People Express in Newark, NJ. At that time Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic was just starting service, but was delayed. Their F/As wore a little tab on the shoulder that read “Virgin”. Story was that the delay was because they had trouble finding enough F/As who were qualified to wear the patch. Don’t know if that was true.
    Years later with another airline, I was taking a late night flight from DC to Ft Lauderdale. Cabin called and said, Captain, guys are running up and down the aisle and throwing food. You need to come. I could not as we were busy, but made a PA announcement telling them that Law Enforcement would meet us if they did not stop. After landing, while taxiing, another call of running up and down the aisle. Asked tower to have LE meet us.
    When I opened the door after parking, there stood the big, ripped male F/A. He said the Perps were in the rear, where sweet, shy, Connie was trying to deal with them. So much for having a male in the cabin.
    BTW, the hooligans were part of the Carlos Santana band; and they escaped in the confusion. But, Santana himself was fine. He had stayed behind because another band member was passed out. The story got all over the crew room that Cap’n Bob had called the Cops on Carlos Santana, and moreover he had no idea who Carlos Santana was.

    Airline flying was fun at times.
    PS
    Before my airline career, I flew Jimmy Buffett on a charter from Newport News, Virginia, to New York after one of his performances. He was tired, but pleasant. Our instructions were to have plenty of cold Budweiser on board. So much for Margaritas.

  15. Perhaps the reason is that the creative types who ended up supporting the Commies of the Nazis didn’t see themselves as members of the masses, but as members of the vanguard, the leaders of the masses.

    Gringo:

    I thought you hit this out of the park in response to David Foster’s link to Eric Hoffer claiming that truly creative people wouldn’t be involved in mass movements.

    I can’t think of any exceptions.

    I’m not sure conservatives grasp how exciting it is to consider oneself part of the vanguard. Maybe the movement succeeds and one becomes part of the nomenklatura, an obvious pay-off, but that’s an uncertain bet.

    What truly drives people in a mass movement is the exhilarating sense of being in the vanguard, having a say in changing the world. Which is why I sometimes describe being on the left as a drug experience.

    Of course, historically there is a chance such creative types will go up against the wall after the revolution comes.

  16. “Perhaps the reason is that the creative types who ended up supporting the Commies of the Nazis didn’t see themselves as members of the masses, but as members of the vanguard, the leaders of the masses.”

    Years ago, I was at a company management training class at which, in addition to classes on strategy, operations, marketing, etc, we had some interesting outside speakers. One was a Marxist professor who proceeded to lecture us that our philosophical and political opinions were just the manifestation of our economic class interest.

    I raised my hand and asked him if he’d even considered that *his* political views might reflect his class interests…after all, a Marxist academic might expect to do pretty well after the Revolution.

    He didn’t like that very much.

  17. I raised my hand and asked him if he’d even considered that *his* political views might reflect his class interests…after all, a Marxist academic might expect to do pretty well after the Revolution.

    He didn’t like that very much.

    David Foster.

    I’ll bet he didn’t!

    The same goes for all the trendy postmodernists who are king hell on pointing fingers at the power-seeking aspects of Western Civ and capitalism, but have absolutely zero self-reflection when it comes to postmodernism’s insatiable, and often successful, efforts at power acquisition.

  18. Not quite Autumn, but it’s in the air. Time for a brief JFK conspiracy update (excerpt article):

    Operation Mongoose: Oswald in New Orleans

    First, let’s set the mood: *The Conspirators*

    I had come across information that President John F. Kennedy may have believed that CIA was preparing and overthrow of Cuba secretly outside the scope of his approval at the Lacombe, Louisiana training base. The CIA operation was known as Operation Mongoose, and it covered a wide array of military options to overthrow Cuba including bioagents with mosquitoes being dropped from the sky…

  19. One of my best friends is married to a flight attendant. I was shocked to find out that flight attendants only get paid once the plane leaves the ground. I didn’t ask if this was industry wide or just the airline she works for. Either way it’s hard for me to believe that such working conditions still exist. I know the attendants get paid well but why leave this sort of thing in an industry? Also attendants can be called into work, sent home as as not needed and receive no pay for their time. Maybe Oldflyer can tell me if my friend was having me on or not. By the way, they are on Kauai this weekend. A perk my friend loves.

  20. “…to Boost Numbers…”
    I believe it’s for the coffee and donuts fund…but they’re too embarrassed to admit it.
    I’m of two minds on this one…since it’s well know that the Po-Leece march on their caffeine and sugar rations.
    (Maybe if they could make the “fund-raising” a little less obvious…)

  21. You can’t compete if you can’t compute.

    I’ve posted here before about people at deli counters who don’t know what two thirds is, and checkout people who can’t figure out what ten percent off is.

    This innumeracy seems to be everywhere.

    Instead of teaching the three Rs many teachers are apparently trying to subvert parent’s control over their children, and to confuse these kids over their sexuality.

    It’s all Leftist indoctrination.

    Saw a college aged women on YouTube who was told she would get ten dollars if she could name a continent, and she couldn’t.

    These uneducated idiots are apparently everywhere, but I bet they can name the latest pop stars and know their “pronouns”.

  22. Snow on Pine: They certainly weed out all the students who *can* answer those insipid questions but the sad fact is they *do find* students who can’t.

    There was the one girl I was introduced to at a bar once. Friend asked what I thought of her. “You can look in her eyes and see the light coming in from her ears.”

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