August 4, 2021: Don’t drown the drink

August 4, 2021: Don’t drown the drink. I am still baffled by people who would take a perfectly good single malt Scotch, add ice to it, and then fill the glass with water. I saw the bottle weeping and the bar tender looking despondent. But the lounges are now open. The tediousness of the pandemic is wearing off as the airport lounges are opening up and one can actually use the food buffet and not have to be served food in pre-packaged plastic bags. Airports are filling up, there is a sense of living with the pandemic now, and everyone seems to have adjusted to the fact that certain precautions need to continue. The desolate look of airports is disappearing and T3 had a fuller look, more people, going places, more airplanes, more airlines. The lines are lengthening and maintaining distance is a challenge and is not a priority. Masks are easier to do, as is the PPE for the middle seat passengers on certain airlines in certain countries. Those who know me also would know that, like many others, I find airplanes calming – there is nothing to do – sometimes this is a good thing. Longer the flight the better I like it. I actually have realized that the pandemic has changed things about travel in a way that it is simpler to travel from point A to point B without stopping in between. Constantly shifting rules make it confusing as to where one can go and where one cannot. Thus the midpoints can pose challenges. In March of 2020, I barely made it through Bangkok and Istanbul before things started to shut down. I know of people who got stuck in many different places. It seems that the travel industry is dealing with the pandemic in an intelligent way. Assuming that tests for COVID-19 are reliable, one can be confident that no one was COVID-19 positive at least 72 hours before they boarded the aircraft you are in. With advanced air filtration system, mandatory masking in the aircraft and the constant sanitization it is perhaps safer than the local grocery store where unvaccinated morons still will not wear a mask. The stupidity of people will keep this disease with us for a long time, but at least travelers seem to have a little more sense, other than drowning their drinks, and are adapting to the condition and not demanding a return to a mythical pre-pandemic time. The travel industry has done this many times. After the 9/11 the industry adapted, and we travelers did because we knew that we have now entered a new phase in our lives. And it was not an issue. There was no foolishness that there are magic solutions. The current issue with vaccinations is an interesting point. It is criminal to refuse to be vaccinated, but even if vaccinated it is foolhardy to believe the disease will not strike the vaccinated. The expression of the disease may be milder, but the vaccine does not promise that one will not fall ill. The travel industry thus has not put a great deal of importance on vaccinations, most places still require proof that one is not infected before embarking on travel. There is something to be learned from the way the industry responds to changes, and how we adapt to the changes. Perhaps that is why I sometimes feel safer in an airport and an aircraft than in many other places I have to visit. I still love planes and I am with Susan Raye, “Assuring me I'm flying friendly skies.”