Leaderboard

I never felt unsafe flying and I don't now. But I did enjoy it much more prior to 9/11. Today, it's the closest thing to a cattle car experience without the actual bovine camaraderie. Once I'm on the plane, I have little problem with cramped quarters and lack of amenities. But the experience of actually getting inside the plane is nearly unbearable. I remember the glory days of traveling for business in the seventies. It was a matter of pride to leave the office less than an hour before flight time, walk into the airport ten minutes before and know that I could sprint to the gate, check in, and squeeze through the doors just as they were closing. Flying was something to look forward to then and now it's drudgery. But, again, it's not the experience in the plane that queers the deal. It's the process of actually getting to the point of buckling up. On the plus side, I pay three hundred dollars for a coach seat today just as I did then, forty years ago.

After 9/11, when check-in became the torture that lookin notes, I don't think I ever flew between Boston and NYC again. Using Acela was so much easier and more comfortable. And hardly more time door-to-door, what with schlepping to/from the airport, having to arrive way ahead of flight time, possibility of delays, etc., etc.

Had I taken this quiz in the semi-rural parts of India where I spent a couple of years, I'd also have needed the 'zero option'. Water and a finger were often the only means available. Good thing too, as Indian toilet paper outside the luxury hotels was usually made from a gossamer blend of parchment and dust with just enough waxiness to guarantee a smear rather than a good scrub. I believe that those traditional water-users with excellent aim and an enthusiastic launch could dispense with the finger altogether, though it was still considered bad form to eat, or to offer something, with one's left hand. And, once again, I am indebted to the worthy posters who are kind enough to launch and nurture these coprophagistic threads whenever there's a lull in the conversation.

I only wish there was something in real life to "queer" the deal. Oh, you mean make the experience unpleasant. Best regards, RA1

I feel no less safe flying now than I do living on earth after the last couple of meteorite near-misses. You pays your money and you takes your choice. I would however like for life to be arranged so that every destination could be reached by either walking or flying. Enough with all this middle-distance foolery.

Brasilians use many more than Americans. After every time the pee, they need to skin back the lace curtain and make sure it is thoroughly dry or then tend to get very gamey, unless that is your thing.

One thing I always love about returning to America is quilted toilet paper!