Looking back over the past weeks and to the weeks ahead – to rate the noteworthy, the cringeworthy, the good, the bad, the ugly, and the truly amazing.
Not all heroes wear capes
Seems we all need a reminder about social etiquette and respect every now and again and who better to deliver it than an airline pilot to a plane load of passengers via his welcoming address. An American Airlines pilot took it upon himself recently to give a few pointers about respect and behaviour and laid down the law about what was acceptable, and what wasn’t, whilst onboard his airplane.
If you’ve flown you know the worst thing about it is not the jet lag, or the turbulence, but the annoying behaviour of others whose selfishness can turn a challenging journey into a nightmare. Kicking the back of your seat, playing their music loudly through their devices’ speakers, talking at full noise, pulling your seat back when they get into theirs, whilst you’re trying to sleep.
Well at least there is someone in charge who gets it and isn’t afraid to lay down the law. After establishing the way he wanted the cabin crew treated, he offered a few more pieces of social niceties.
“Don’t lean on other people. Don’t fall asleep on other people. Don’t drool on them unless you’ve talked about it and they have a weather-resistant jacket,’ he joked.
“‘The social experiment on listening to videos on speaker mode and talking on a cellphone on speaker, that is over, he declared.'” (Source: “Fed-up pilot’s stern message for passengers on flight: ‘We won’t have it,'” By Ella Rayment-Ward, 4 August, 2023, 9HoneyTravel
5 Stars – nothing beats someone setting the tone for how we should behave.
The laws regarding driving licences
I’m not a lock ’em up and throw away the keys type but one thing I cannot comprehend is how drivers who cause death and injury, through either repeat drunk driving, or repeat aggression and idiocy may only lose their licence for a few years.
A licence is a right if you drive correctly and do not cause harm and are capable of driving in the first place. If you then decide to drive drunk, over and over and kill and maim, then it should be bye bye driver licence forever. Why should those who abide by the laws be put in harms way by those who illustrate that they couldn’t give a toss?
Personally I think it’s time for a complete overhaul of the whole system. Testing should be more frequent – let’s say every ten years. If you drive drunk, then you lose your license for five years and if you cause injury or death, then you lose your licence. That’s it. We apply the same logic to other sorts of transport. If a pilot is drunk in a cockpit, they will never fly again, and rightly so. The same applies to the road. Why put people at risk of death or injury?
0 Stars – we all deserve to be safe on the roads
Kiwi pies
If ever there were a worthy candidate for a national dish, it might perhaps be the now not so humble pie. Gone are the days of the staple mince, steak, and bacon and egg and no matter where you are or where you travel to in New Zealand their are bakeries and cafes serving up pies that satisfy all palates and eating preferences – from carnivores to vegans, to pescatarians to the gluten free.
Each year the The Bakels New Zealand Supreme Pie Awards celebrates the very best that our pie making maestros have to offer. Of note is this year’s winner, Patrick Lam of Patrick’s Pies in Tauranga who has won the top award an incredible eight times. Mr Lam knocked it out the park this year with a roast duck, onion, and mushroom combination that had the judges drooling.
Having tried pies in England and Australia I can honestly say that we do it far better, with great options and fantastic ingredients.
5 stars – cos Kiwi pies are simply the best
