Air travel has gotten a lot of press lately. Not the least of which is the recent spate of coverage about the TSA agent who was able to smuggle a fake bomb through New Jersey’s security on Friday (http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/03/tsa-agent-gets-past-two-security-layers-with-hidden-fake-bomb/).
WELL! Myself, along with many others could have told you that. Saturday I inadvertently carried an apple and liquid lip gloss (not in the TSA prescribed 1 quart plastic baggy, http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/3-1-1-carry-ons) through the San Francisco airport security. To be fair, I had also forgotten to put the lip gloss in the 5 ounce baggy when navigating the Detroit Metro security on my way out to San Francisco. Of course, I have been both intentionally and unintentionally packing undeclared liquids and lighters in my purse and bag for years. When I used to travel to Iceland, me and the other international travelers used to trade “bad” contraband type stuff hidden in our our pockets just to be able to text each other from various parts of world about whether or not the forbidden items made it through airport security. Not anything bad enough to get us into real trouble, but definitely little nothings that would normally be confiscated by a well-intentioned airport security agent.
There has also been a lot of writing about radiation and the new full body scanning devices. I won’t go into the true fact that they are more than a little invasive and probably a direct attack on individuals’ rights to privacy, nor will I write anything here in support of Steven Glover’s perspective that going through airport security is akin to being herded like cattle (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2192254/Ryanair-EasyJet-Herded-like-cattle-fleeced-like-sheep-We-mad-endure-torture-budget-flights.html), although it does at times feel like that.
What is a lot more worrisome to someone like me (and therefore worthy of a little attention here) is this notion of excessive and unnecessary radiation exposure from the security scanners themselves. Apparently, there is some exposure to radiation. However, even without the new scanners there is quite a bit of radiation exposure associated with air travel in general. The higher into the sky you go, the less atmospheric substance there is to protect you from radiation. People who travel, whether exposed to full body scanners or not, are exposed to a higher amount of radiation and there is nothing you can do about it (http://www.faa.gov/other_visit/aviation_industry/designees_delegations/designee_types/ame/fasmb/media/backscatter_research.pdf). OK so radiation is there, probably not enough to cause fatal skin cancer (most skin cancers are more inconvenient than fatal), making radiation exposure just one more wonderful thing air travelers have to muse over when contemplating their next airborne journey.
Of course, most of don’t think about these health and security type things when we are jetting across the continent at speeds slightly faster than sound. No, we think about how cramped the seats are, or the baby screaming his little head off 6 inches from your ear. Even worse is the 25 year old young man who flatulates every 15 to 20 minutes while sleeping with his mouth wide open right beside your face, his incredibly strong bad breath washing over you in waves rhythmic waves. I did mention it was a four and a half hour flight, didn’t Iit?
But getting back to the factual health risks of air travel, the cramped seats are actually a little more than just plain uncomfortable. Flying can actually cause a form of blood clots called deep vein thrombosis. Now the airlines have done a lot of PR work to convince people that flying in those cramped economy seats don’t actually put you at higher risk for these clots (http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/story/health/story/2012-02-07/No-greater-risk-of-blood-clots-from-flying-economy-class/52993704/1), but really, you have to wonder. I do try to get up and move around. I typically take my shoes off, and I flex a bit. I’ve read that wearing panty hose doesn’t hurt either, but of course the best way to deal with this issue is to fly first class, which would also bring the nice side effect of letting you avoid all the cattle herding type line ups. Unfortunately, like most North Americans, I simply can’t afford that luxury. Executive class can be as much as 400% or 500% more costly than economy class.
Crying babies don’t come with any health risks per se, and unless you are right beside the baby, the engine noise usually does a lot to tone it down. Crying babies rarely bother me because hey they’re little and their little ears might be hurting (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/air-travel-with-infant/HQ00197). Besides, I think the parents usually feel worse about their baby crying than you do. The only time crying babies have actually bothered me was the trip from Minneapolis to Iceland where I was surrounded by triplets who seemed to work in unison. As soon as one started to show any sign of abating another would pipe right up to fill the void. I knew it wasn’t anyone’s fault, it was just a very exhausting trip. Ironically the young guy next to me slept through the entire eight hours. When I asked him how he did it, he pulled out his ear plugs and said, “huh?” Lesson to self: ear plugs for travel can come in handy, even if you don’t like them.
The thing that really drives me crazy when air travelling is being unfortunate enough to be situated next to the flatulator with bad breath! Like so many other things when enduring air travel, it is probably something I can do nothing about. Or is it? What would you do if you were stuck for 4 hours in economy class next to a flatulating, orally malodorous traveler?
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