Plane Ponderings

In the air again - I have these two things to share from my travel to Florida today..

I was able to get the aisle seat on both flights and on the first flight, I shared the row with two men. The man in the middle was overweight and he was telling the man at the window about the seats being "skinny" now a days. In fact, people are bigger, but anyways that is the conversation they had.

As the flight progressed, I was editing a paper that I have been working on 'for months'.  It is nearly complete and I was reviewing the latest version.  The paper gives an overview of the new labeling law and the IOMs work on front of pack labeling.  It also explains the importance of dietary factors in obesity prevention and the need for us to limit calories.  The same things that you guys know I have been researching and summarizing for most of the summer.

The gentleman that had complained about the seats not being big enough asked me if I were a teacher - and was I grading papers.  I said no, that I was a student and this was my paper.  He said, "do you mind if I ask what it's about?"  DEAR ME - ha. I gave the briefest overview and then he went on to tell me about not getting enough exercise since he retired and gaining so much weight (I would not expect that he was much over age 50 - so I am not sure why he retired).  The irony is that this and most of my papers are about the need to actually EAT LESS not move more.... but I didn't go there with my row mate.  Later he told the window seat guy that he was going to eat buckets full of crawdads and such when he got to New Orleans.

On the second leg of my journey, I read a letter to the editor in USA Today.  The writer of the letter was upset that service men (military) were not given priority boarding for air travel. He stated feeling horrible about walking past the men or women in uniform while he went on to his first class or whatever special seat he had.  If you recall, I opt to wait until the last zone is called and then get at the back of the line.  I think that service persons should fly free, first class, and without any fees whatsoever - but I think they should be given the privilege to board at the absolute last minute and get off at the very first!   


Wasn't it just this past weekend that another study came out that indicated an increased risk of deadly blood clots from too much time spent sitting?