We all know that air travel ain’t what it used to be, particularly if you’re traveling with kids under the age of about 12. Back in the day, an airplane trip meant mom requested “kid meals” for us (grill cheese, french fries, chocolate milk, sometimes a soda with a maraschino cherry); we got little pin-on airplane wings…it was all good.
Now, of course, it’s the stocking-foot shuffle, the plastic bag of lotions and unguents, and the sign that says “thank you for participating in security.” I have to say that I think this entire “security” thing might be a shake-down funded by the bottled water companies, who must have seen a significant uptick in profits once passengers had to leave their beverages on the other side of the x-ray machines.
There is, however, a modern addition to flying that does indeed make the skies friendlier: TV. My friends, until there is a liquid heroin drip that can be connected into the arms of small children, plugging them into Jet Blue’s cartoon network is the next best thing. Okay, so yes, we’re talking about three hours or so of crappy cartoons and even crappier advertisements. But you know what I did during our flight?
I read a book.
I swear, it was almost civilized.
