I remember when flying was exciting, something to look forward to. Now? It is pure drudgery, from the moment you walk into the airport until the moment you leave at the other end. One is treated like a criminal cow, to be herded this way and that, checked and prodded. And that's just for a domestic flight. Flying into the US is even worse.
Once one gets on the plane, the fun continues. One almost needs to be a contortionist to fit into the seats if you're taller than 5 ½ feet.
I remember taking my first flight (the previous one as 6-month old infant doesn't count) in 1997 to fly from Geneva to Boston on a high school exchange trip. Back then, flying still had an air of luxury and adventure, somewhat reminiscent of what I imagine flying with Pan-Am in the 60s would have been.
The stewardesses were friendly (and very enticing to my 15 year-old pubescent self) and we were invited to go to the upper deck (it was a 747) and pay a visit to the cockpit, where the pilot, copilot and engineer welcomed us and showed us around.
No we fly for way cheaper, but only to be mistreated at every turn, packed like cattle in seats that are too small for a normal-size adult and asked to pay for every little thing as an extra?
I wonder if one day the washrooms will required a card tap too.
Years ago I read a quotation attributed to the Duke of Wellington (victor at Waterloo) who, in his dotage was asked by a newspaperman what he thought of the railways just then beginning to appear in industrial England. He didn't approve of them because they would allow the lower classes to move about. (I can't verify it from the Internet today so maybe it's made up. There were a lot of Duke of Wellington anecdotes.) But I think he would have said the same thing about mass air travel. It was fine when it was for the elite. But mass market? Nah. Ruins everything.
Edit: Well how about that. The Duke's comment is cited here:
Mornings like this, and an email with this content, confirm why have have been subscribing to the Line for years. This diatribe was in line with the TGIF from The Free Press, and Nellie Bowles. Hummmm, maybe The Line could adopt a similar TGIF (because you have nothing to do :) ) .
I love, love, love, love our air fryer (our kitchen is otherwise low tech, featuring a 1930s egg beater and an avocado-hued Osterizer blender that was probably sold new in 1968). Glorified toaster oven: pshh!
I also hate airline upsells (and worse, that Via Rail now does this too).
I didn't think I could like you any more than I already did after you recently expressed a strong aversion to being hugged. But damn if the mayo rant didn't increase my admiration.
Mayo is the handiwork of Satan himself. And you hit on the most pernicious aspect of it - it often shows up on your food UNANNOUNCED ON THE MENU!!! WTF is that about??!! Every other condiment is called out on the menu. Not mayo - like all demons it is sneakily devious appearing when there is no reason to expect it. The effect of this is precisely as you say: it has become mandatory to inquire if mayo is going to be showing up on just about everything (and I swear it didn't use to be this way). BTW, when asked if I have an allergy (not sure why they ask that - what does it matter why I don't want it), I simply respond with a simple "worse than that".
Indeed. Furthermore, being someone whom I would invite to my home for a social occasion is a necessary but not sufficient condition for me to consider hugging you. I remember PM Harper being pilloried for shaking his son's hand after walking him to school and thinking that any people criticizing him for not hugging him need to kindly stay away from me.
This used to happen more when restaurants would arbitrarily decide 'nobody would possibly want a hamburger without the the full gamut of contradictory and overwhelming simultaneous flavours represented by ketchup, yellow mustard, pickle relish, and weird mayo-based secret sauce' but mayonnaise is the most common to come pre-loaded. Leave these as optional, and for fuck's sake if I had wanted a wet dripping dill pickle to touch my food I would have asked for it.
And even as someone who will voluntarily eat some quantity of mayo on some things, the amount is always the issue. It's never just a little smear of mayo to lubricate the dry chicken, it's always a noticeable portion of the item by weight consists of mayo.
The last time I got a big mac @ McD's I swear the amount of sauce on it was almost equal to the amount of burger. There was so much sauce on it, that every time I took a bite the meat was sliding out of the bun - yuk! :-(
I think running into the unexpected condiment slop on McDonald's burgers as a kid was what permanently put me off of a lot of those sauces. I expected delicious meat and cheese and ended up with gelatinous pickle slices and reddish goo. This was back when asking for anything non-standard at McD's pretty much ground their entire production line to a malfunctioning halt, and still half the time you ordered something plain you'd still end up with all-dressed when you got it home!
As a Southern Frenchman, I have to take issue with the mayo hatred.
Homemade mayo (free range egg yolk, proper olive oil from Les Baux-de-Provence, real Dijon mustard, salt, pepper and a bit of acidity - either vinegar or lemon juice or both) has nothing to do with industrial mayo and is infinitely tastier and healthier.
It takes specific skills to master and some never manage to whip it up properly. But to those who master this skill and are part of this very exclusive club, it's one of the best sauces ever (not a condiment, you peasants).
Some old wives tales believe that women during their period can not whip it up.
It is a very special and unique food item when properly understood and prepared.
But I agree with the industrial mayo hate. That's not even worthy of the name "food".
How about the inane barring of plastic grocery bags, my pet peeve? Plastic grocery bags are classified as single use but are actually dual use, since every Canadian since the dawn of man has used these as garbage bags after their primary use of bringing your groceries home. Banning these merely forces Canadians too buy - you guessed it! - plastic bags to take out the garbage. Remember: zealot rhymes with idiot.
Have to disagree that 'every Canadian' re-used plastic shopping bags as garbage bags. I used to see more than a few people throwing out bags of plastic grocery bags. The problem is that most people accumulated far more grocery bags they could use for garbage than was necessary. I used to keep them all & accumulated so many that when I started using re-usable bags it took months to use them up as garbage bags. And I'm a single person. Plus, if you use the rectagular bags w/flat bottoms, they hold far more than the plastic bags ever did. Important when you have to slep bags from an underground garage to an elevator to your apartment :-)
I don’t disagree, but I’m drowning in reusable grocery bags. I just wish government, in the form of Stevie Guilbault, would quit bossing people - me in particular - around. Leave it to people to make a choice.
Ontario banned the plastic grocery bags a few years ago. Not sure if it’s an All Canada rule or just some provinces. When I’m in AZ the local Walmart has a bin where you can deposit used plastic bags. Again not sure if all states are the same.
I read years ago that even if nothing was recycled and we just landfilled of all humanity's waste, a 10,000 square miles area could hold all that waste for the next 1000 years.
I asked grok to test that assumption and it came up with an area somewhere between 12,000 and 65,000 square miles, or roughly between the size of Belgium and Suriname. Or up to 0.11 % of the earth's surface.
Since not everything is landfilled and some waste is valuable enough to be recycled, this is a conservative assumption.
We could cover Belgium in trash and never notice. Let's be honest, no one care about Belgium.
Blister packaging on oversized cardboard backing is necessary to reduce shoplifting, especially because the large piece of cardboard gives something to attach anti-theft tags to. If the packaging was easy for you to open at home, it would be easy for a thief to open it in the store and slip the Hot Wheel into his pocket. More pilferage, higher prices for you.
Of course this is all something of a relic from the days back in the Old Time when shoplifting was a crime, so there is that.
Had you said Miracle Whip instead of mayonnaise, I would’ve agreed with you. All of your points apply to that horrible concoction that too many people confuse with mayonnaise.
Thx for calling out airlines. Over priced pricks! We chose to drive from Cambridge to Ottawa, Ottawa to Fredericton, Freddy to Charlottetown and back rather than $2,200 for two from Pearson to Fred. in a two week time frame.
How much did it cost, in real dollars, to fly from Saskatoon to Fredericton in 1965? Sure you got a meal then, which everyone loved to hate, and the early jets were a tad faster than today.
Jen, I am with you on everything but the mayo!! I have discovered Duke Mayonnaise, from the southern US states and love it. Several entire columns could be written about the irritants of air travel. , I recently took VIA rail economy from Windsor Ontario to Aldershot (near Burlington) Absolutely delightful. The economy seats were more comfortable than any airline seat in the more than 25 airlines I have flown Staff were pleasant, friendly and actually helpful. Skip flying and take the train when possible is my advice.
But how late were you arriving in to Aldershot? I take VIA often between Toronto and Ottawa and it is always late. They send out excuses emails before you even get on the train: we don't own the tracks, CN does; it will be windy!
I do much prefer train travel over air travel. You just show up and board, no security strip searches or checking baggage hassles. I do love the Wi-Fi but the trains are always late.
What trains can you check a bag at all on anymore on VIA? No train to Ottawa accepts checked baggage and only one train a day each -- the slow milk run -- between Windsor and Montréal does. I guess separatists and civil servants traveling back and forth between Ottawa and Québec City don't need much luggage.
If you mean you can take your suitcase into the coach on VIA and not *have* to check it, OK. But if you want to check a bicycle or a steamer trunk like a kid going off to university, you're mostly out of luck. Every plane will take a bicycle or other over-sized luggage, not free anymore, but not free either on the few VIA trains that accept them. VIA damaged my bikes more often than Air Canada did even though the baggage cars never left the ground. Was the track really that rough? And Air Canada goes to far more places than VIA does, even going back 20 years ago.
Back in my bicycle touring days, I really did try to use trains to get to where my journey would start. I really like trains and try to give them the benefit of the doubt. But it hardly ever worked. So I usually flew. Screw climate change.
Yes, the train was about 20 minutes late because we were shunted onto a side rail while a big train went by. Parking is free in Aldershot, so my husband just waited for me there. I still like the train!
I grew up in Britain, where I took the train everywhere. I’ve lived in rural Alberta, Edmonton, Fort McMurray and Regina for over forty years and yearn for a ride in an affordable train. Nope, nothin’ but mile-long freight trains to be seen.
I don’t think you can fly from Windsor to Hamilton except by private charter, so not much of a comparison. Try Toronto-Thunder Bay, or even Toronto-Ottawa, for comparison. You used to be able to take the train to TBay, you know, but the taxpayers can subsidize only so many routes that few people patronize.
If your point is that more people should take the train - and be able to take trains within Canada, I'm in agreement. I have taken Toronto- Ottawa a few times, and still really enjoyed the trip, even though VIA trains do have a habit of being a bit late (sometimes really late in the winter) because they get shunted off the main rail line..
No. "More people" should *not* "take the train." I'm not picking on you specifically because it's a very common attitude, where "taking the train" is something that someone else should do as a public service, rather than taking the method that provides them with the greatest utility. There are people for whom taking the train, even if it's late, which it will be, gives them the best utility. They *should* take the train because each fair-paying passenger reduces, if only modestly, the tax subsidy that VIA Rail needs to stay barely VIAble. But no one whose needs are better served by flying, driving, taking the bus, or not going at all (Zooming) should be made to feel that they "should have" taken the train out of some civic duty.
When airplanes and better highways whacked the competitiveness of intercity passenger trains after WW2, the travelling public was thrilled to abandon trains. The railway companies were happy to oblige by canceling their passenger trains and letting Amtrak and VIA take over the vestigial routes that were left, many of which serve isolated communities with no road access and have to be operated as a true public service.
Good grief! Settle down. I did not imply people should take trains as a public service! I said that the train was a lot less irritating than many of the flights I have been on.
There is fantasy and reality. Many people, especially politicians, view trains as panacea and even a desirable method of transportation, because of some vague romantic notion that trains must be better than other forms of transportation if the Europeans use it so much.
It is forgetting the reality of the ground. There is a reason why airplanes have taken over as the best long and medium distance form of transportation. Actually, many, many reasons.
You may not personally like the experience, as many others seems to do, but we still fly, because the comfort trade-offs are worth the benefits of being able to fly Toronto to LA in about 9-10 hours door to door. Or ottawa in 4.
It's time to stop conflating romanticized ideals with reality.
Air travel has gotten increasingly bad because consumers keep picking the cheapest fare available. I’ve flown regularly between Vancouver and Edmonton for a couple of decades because my parents live in Edmonton. Out of curiosity, I dug back through through my fares for about a decade. Adjusting for inflation and add-ons like baggage and seat selection (gotta add that on to make the newer fares comparable), the price of a WestJet fare is basically the same. That’s actually pretty amazing considering that fuel prices have gone up, and that’s a major cost for airlines.
Instead, what’s happened is that travelers keep voting with their wallets. They’ll go for the fare that’s $100 cheaper even if it means they’re denied a carry on, have to pay extra for a checked bag, and board last as a Zone 9 passenger. So, the airlines keep finding ways to carve more cost out to offer a cheaper fare, attract those cheap customers, and keep their load factor up so they can keep operating with increasingly tighter margins. Everything about air travel has gotten worse, except the reality that people can travel farther, faster, in greater comfort, and more affordably than anybody could’ve imagined a century ago.
So, next time you’re picking an airfare, either splurge on the Economy or Economy Plus for an extra $100-$200, or quit whining.
Yeah, I never buy the cheapest fare unless it's a float plane and I am travelling really light. They charge excess weight by the pound, so it's not a huge deal to pay $6 if I am over two pounds. If I had to pack an actual suitcase, I would go for a higher fare, though. But anything longer than a 20-minute plane ride, I pay the extra to not have the hassle.
I so agree with Jen about the mayo. I don't actually dislike mayo, but I don't like copious quantities of it on everything, which seems to be the norm today. No one in restaurants seems to understand " easy on the mayo" because I have said this when ordering a sandwich, only to discover both slices of bread covered in a thick layer, meaning every bite of the sandwich results in a blob of mayo splurting out, usually landing on my pants. Recently I ordered a ham and cheese sandwich with mustard only, and was told that the cafe no longer had mustard, so it was mayo or nothing. A ham and cheese sandwich! I fully expect to soon see people eating Montreal smoked meat sandwiches slathered in mayo! Disgusting!
If you’re in an Ottawa or Montreal (Anywhere in Eastern Canada?)restaurant and want mayonnaise ask for Ranch dressing. You’ll have a 50% chance of getting mayonnaise, a 40 percent chance of getting hummus, and a 10 percent chance of actually getting Ranch.
I was hoping for more Dark Jen, but the mayonnaise section satisfied my savage inner demons.
I remember when flying was exciting, something to look forward to. Now? It is pure drudgery, from the moment you walk into the airport until the moment you leave at the other end. One is treated like a criminal cow, to be herded this way and that, checked and prodded. And that's just for a domestic flight. Flying into the US is even worse.
Once one gets on the plane, the fun continues. One almost needs to be a contortionist to fit into the seats if you're taller than 5 ½ feet.
Yuck!
I remember taking my first flight (the previous one as 6-month old infant doesn't count) in 1997 to fly from Geneva to Boston on a high school exchange trip. Back then, flying still had an air of luxury and adventure, somewhat reminiscent of what I imagine flying with Pan-Am in the 60s would have been.
The stewardesses were friendly (and very enticing to my 15 year-old pubescent self) and we were invited to go to the upper deck (it was a 747) and pay a visit to the cockpit, where the pilot, copilot and engineer welcomed us and showed us around.
No we fly for way cheaper, but only to be mistreated at every turn, packed like cattle in seats that are too small for a normal-size adult and asked to pay for every little thing as an extra?
I wonder if one day the washrooms will required a card tap too.
Maybe I'm just getting old.
Gosh, 1997 wasn't even the good old days. lol
Years ago I read a quotation attributed to the Duke of Wellington (victor at Waterloo) who, in his dotage was asked by a newspaperman what he thought of the railways just then beginning to appear in industrial England. He didn't approve of them because they would allow the lower classes to move about. (I can't verify it from the Internet today so maybe it's made up. There were a lot of Duke of Wellington anecdotes.) But I think he would have said the same thing about mass air travel. It was fine when it was for the elite. But mass market? Nah. Ruins everything.
Edit: Well how about that. The Duke's comment is cited here:
The Third on the Train
On Class and Travel in the 19th Century
Małgorzata Nitka
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/227340702.pdf
That's an interesting point. Maybe it's the democratization of modern conveniences that truly bother us deep down.
Mornings like this, and an email with this content, confirm why have have been subscribing to the Line for years. This diatribe was in line with the TGIF from The Free Press, and Nellie Bowles. Hummmm, maybe The Line could adopt a similar TGIF (because you have nothing to do :) ) .
I too thought of TGIF and the Canadian Version. Not to burden you Jen, but I believe you would be quite excellent at this.
I love, love, love, love our air fryer (our kitchen is otherwise low tech, featuring a 1930s egg beater and an avocado-hued Osterizer blender that was probably sold new in 1968). Glorified toaster oven: pshh!
I also hate airline upsells (and worse, that Via Rail now does this too).
I didn't think I could like you any more than I already did after you recently expressed a strong aversion to being hugged. But damn if the mayo rant didn't increase my admiration.
Mayo is the handiwork of Satan himself. And you hit on the most pernicious aspect of it - it often shows up on your food UNANNOUNCED ON THE MENU!!! WTF is that about??!! Every other condiment is called out on the menu. Not mayo - like all demons it is sneakily devious appearing when there is no reason to expect it. The effect of this is precisely as you say: it has become mandatory to inquire if mayo is going to be showing up on just about everything (and I swear it didn't use to be this way). BTW, when asked if I have an allergy (not sure why they ask that - what does it matter why I don't want it), I simply respond with a simple "worse than that".
If you haven't been invited inside my house, I don't think a hug is appropriate. JG
Yes! Uninvited hugging from people who I barely know is really annoying.
Indeed. Furthermore, being someone whom I would invite to my home for a social occasion is a necessary but not sufficient condition for me to consider hugging you. I remember PM Harper being pilloried for shaking his son's hand after walking him to school and thinking that any people criticizing him for not hugging him need to kindly stay away from me.
That's a great rule of thumb.
Unannounced condiments are a nightmare.
This used to happen more when restaurants would arbitrarily decide 'nobody would possibly want a hamburger without the the full gamut of contradictory and overwhelming simultaneous flavours represented by ketchup, yellow mustard, pickle relish, and weird mayo-based secret sauce' but mayonnaise is the most common to come pre-loaded. Leave these as optional, and for fuck's sake if I had wanted a wet dripping dill pickle to touch my food I would have asked for it.
And even as someone who will voluntarily eat some quantity of mayo on some things, the amount is always the issue. It's never just a little smear of mayo to lubricate the dry chicken, it's always a noticeable portion of the item by weight consists of mayo.
The last time I got a big mac @ McD's I swear the amount of sauce on it was almost equal to the amount of burger. There was so much sauce on it, that every time I took a bite the meat was sliding out of the bun - yuk! :-(
I think running into the unexpected condiment slop on McDonald's burgers as a kid was what permanently put me off of a lot of those sauces. I expected delicious meat and cheese and ended up with gelatinous pickle slices and reddish goo. This was back when asking for anything non-standard at McD's pretty much ground their entire production line to a malfunctioning halt, and still half the time you ordered something plain you'd still end up with all-dressed when you got it home!
As a Southern Frenchman, I have to take issue with the mayo hatred.
Homemade mayo (free range egg yolk, proper olive oil from Les Baux-de-Provence, real Dijon mustard, salt, pepper and a bit of acidity - either vinegar or lemon juice or both) has nothing to do with industrial mayo and is infinitely tastier and healthier.
It takes specific skills to master and some never manage to whip it up properly. But to those who master this skill and are part of this very exclusive club, it's one of the best sauces ever (not a condiment, you peasants).
Some old wives tales believe that women during their period can not whip it up.
It is a very special and unique food item when properly understood and prepared.
But I agree with the industrial mayo hate. That's not even worthy of the name "food".
So what you're saying is you won't be trying the new Mayo slices LOL.
Also, no hugging. Why people need to hug is beyond me.
How about the inane barring of plastic grocery bags, my pet peeve? Plastic grocery bags are classified as single use but are actually dual use, since every Canadian since the dawn of man has used these as garbage bags after their primary use of bringing your groceries home. Banning these merely forces Canadians too buy - you guessed it! - plastic bags to take out the garbage. Remember: zealot rhymes with idiot.
Have to disagree that 'every Canadian' re-used plastic shopping bags as garbage bags. I used to see more than a few people throwing out bags of plastic grocery bags. The problem is that most people accumulated far more grocery bags they could use for garbage than was necessary. I used to keep them all & accumulated so many that when I started using re-usable bags it took months to use them up as garbage bags. And I'm a single person. Plus, if you use the rectagular bags w/flat bottoms, they hold far more than the plastic bags ever did. Important when you have to slep bags from an underground garage to an elevator to your apartment :-)
I don’t disagree, but I’m drowning in reusable grocery bags. I just wish government, in the form of Stevie Guilbault, would quit bossing people - me in particular - around. Leave it to people to make a choice.
Ontario banned the plastic grocery bags a few years ago. Not sure if it’s an All Canada rule or just some provinces. When I’m in AZ the local Walmart has a bin where you can deposit used plastic bags. Again not sure if all states are the same.
This.
I read years ago that even if nothing was recycled and we just landfilled of all humanity's waste, a 10,000 square miles area could hold all that waste for the next 1000 years.
I asked grok to test that assumption and it came up with an area somewhere between 12,000 and 65,000 square miles, or roughly between the size of Belgium and Suriname. Or up to 0.11 % of the earth's surface.
Since not everything is landfilled and some waste is valuable enough to be recycled, this is a conservative assumption.
We could cover Belgium in trash and never notice. Let's be honest, no one care about Belgium.
Another use is redneck luggage. For additional status, make sure the bags match.
I believe the proper term is Cape Breton luggage. Or as we say there, "Kay Brett'n".
A Kay Brett'n cooler is a Sobeys bag half full of ice cubes.
Blister packaging on oversized cardboard backing is necessary to reduce shoplifting, especially because the large piece of cardboard gives something to attach anti-theft tags to. If the packaging was easy for you to open at home, it would be easy for a thief to open it in the store and slip the Hot Wheel into his pocket. More pilferage, higher prices for you.
Of course this is all something of a relic from the days back in the Old Time when shoplifting was a crime, so there is that.
Had you said Miracle Whip instead of mayonnaise, I would’ve agreed with you. All of your points apply to that horrible concoction that too many people confuse with mayonnaise.
Yes! I grew up on school lunches of Miracle Whip and Kraft cheese slices and will never return to those. I love mayo.
Thx for calling out airlines. Over priced pricks! We chose to drive from Cambridge to Ottawa, Ottawa to Fredericton, Freddy to Charlottetown and back rather than $2,200 for two from Pearson to Fred. in a two week time frame.
How much did it cost, in real dollars, to fly from Saskatoon to Fredericton in 1965? Sure you got a meal then, which everyone loved to hate, and the early jets were a tad faster than today.
Jen, I am with you on everything but the mayo!! I have discovered Duke Mayonnaise, from the southern US states and love it. Several entire columns could be written about the irritants of air travel. , I recently took VIA rail economy from Windsor Ontario to Aldershot (near Burlington) Absolutely delightful. The economy seats were more comfortable than any airline seat in the more than 25 airlines I have flown Staff were pleasant, friendly and actually helpful. Skip flying and take the train when possible is my advice.
But how late were you arriving in to Aldershot? I take VIA often between Toronto and Ottawa and it is always late. They send out excuses emails before you even get on the train: we don't own the tracks, CN does; it will be windy!
I do much prefer train travel over air travel. You just show up and board, no security strip searches or checking baggage hassles. I do love the Wi-Fi but the trains are always late.
What trains can you check a bag at all on anymore on VIA? No train to Ottawa accepts checked baggage and only one train a day each -- the slow milk run -- between Windsor and Montréal does. I guess separatists and civil servants traveling back and forth between Ottawa and Québec City don't need much luggage.
If you mean you can take your suitcase into the coach on VIA and not *have* to check it, OK. But if you want to check a bicycle or a steamer trunk like a kid going off to university, you're mostly out of luck. Every plane will take a bicycle or other over-sized luggage, not free anymore, but not free either on the few VIA trains that accept them. VIA damaged my bikes more often than Air Canada did even though the baggage cars never left the ground. Was the track really that rough? And Air Canada goes to far more places than VIA does, even going back 20 years ago.
Back in my bicycle touring days, I really did try to use trains to get to where my journey would start. I really like trains and try to give them the benefit of the doubt. But it hardly ever worked. So I usually flew. Screw climate change.
Yes, the train was about 20 minutes late because we were shunted onto a side rail while a big train went by. Parking is free in Aldershot, so my husband just waited for me there. I still like the train!
Via offers real time tracking of your train so you can tell someone who will pick you up how late you will be, and update them as you get later.
I grew up in Britain, where I took the train everywhere. I’ve lived in rural Alberta, Edmonton, Fort McMurray and Regina for over forty years and yearn for a ride in an affordable train. Nope, nothin’ but mile-long freight trains to be seen.
I don’t think you can fly from Windsor to Hamilton except by private charter, so not much of a comparison. Try Toronto-Thunder Bay, or even Toronto-Ottawa, for comparison. You used to be able to take the train to TBay, you know, but the taxpayers can subsidize only so many routes that few people patronize.
If your point is that more people should take the train - and be able to take trains within Canada, I'm in agreement. I have taken Toronto- Ottawa a few times, and still really enjoyed the trip, even though VIA trains do have a habit of being a bit late (sometimes really late in the winter) because they get shunted off the main rail line..
No. "More people" should *not* "take the train." I'm not picking on you specifically because it's a very common attitude, where "taking the train" is something that someone else should do as a public service, rather than taking the method that provides them with the greatest utility. There are people for whom taking the train, even if it's late, which it will be, gives them the best utility. They *should* take the train because each fair-paying passenger reduces, if only modestly, the tax subsidy that VIA Rail needs to stay barely VIAble. But no one whose needs are better served by flying, driving, taking the bus, or not going at all (Zooming) should be made to feel that they "should have" taken the train out of some civic duty.
When airplanes and better highways whacked the competitiveness of intercity passenger trains after WW2, the travelling public was thrilled to abandon trains. The railway companies were happy to oblige by canceling their passenger trains and letting Amtrak and VIA take over the vestigial routes that were left, many of which serve isolated communities with no road access and have to be operated as a true public service.
Good grief! Settle down. I did not imply people should take trains as a public service! I said that the train was a lot less irritating than many of the flights I have been on.
There is fantasy and reality. Many people, especially politicians, view trains as panacea and even a desirable method of transportation, because of some vague romantic notion that trains must be better than other forms of transportation if the Europeans use it so much.
It is forgetting the reality of the ground. There is a reason why airplanes have taken over as the best long and medium distance form of transportation. Actually, many, many reasons.
You may not personally like the experience, as many others seems to do, but we still fly, because the comfort trade-offs are worth the benefits of being able to fly Toronto to LA in about 9-10 hours door to door. Or ottawa in 4.
It's time to stop conflating romanticized ideals with reality.
I love mayonnaise, but not on my Cheerios 🙂
Air travel has gotten increasingly bad because consumers keep picking the cheapest fare available. I’ve flown regularly between Vancouver and Edmonton for a couple of decades because my parents live in Edmonton. Out of curiosity, I dug back through through my fares for about a decade. Adjusting for inflation and add-ons like baggage and seat selection (gotta add that on to make the newer fares comparable), the price of a WestJet fare is basically the same. That’s actually pretty amazing considering that fuel prices have gone up, and that’s a major cost for airlines.
Instead, what’s happened is that travelers keep voting with their wallets. They’ll go for the fare that’s $100 cheaper even if it means they’re denied a carry on, have to pay extra for a checked bag, and board last as a Zone 9 passenger. So, the airlines keep finding ways to carve more cost out to offer a cheaper fare, attract those cheap customers, and keep their load factor up so they can keep operating with increasingly tighter margins. Everything about air travel has gotten worse, except the reality that people can travel farther, faster, in greater comfort, and more affordably than anybody could’ve imagined a century ago.
So, next time you’re picking an airfare, either splurge on the Economy or Economy Plus for an extra $100-$200, or quit whining.
Also, what's the point of using Expedia? Just book directly with the airline.
Yeah, I never buy the cheapest fare unless it's a float plane and I am travelling really light. They charge excess weight by the pound, so it's not a huge deal to pay $6 if I am over two pounds. If I had to pack an actual suitcase, I would go for a higher fare, though. But anything longer than a 20-minute plane ride, I pay the extra to not have the hassle.
I so agree with Jen about the mayo. I don't actually dislike mayo, but I don't like copious quantities of it on everything, which seems to be the norm today. No one in restaurants seems to understand " easy on the mayo" because I have said this when ordering a sandwich, only to discover both slices of bread covered in a thick layer, meaning every bite of the sandwich results in a blob of mayo splurting out, usually landing on my pants. Recently I ordered a ham and cheese sandwich with mustard only, and was told that the cafe no longer had mustard, so it was mayo or nothing. A ham and cheese sandwich! I fully expect to soon see people eating Montreal smoked meat sandwiches slathered in mayo! Disgusting!
Air fryers are a game changer.
Come to the dark side Jen, we have AWESOME wings and fries...
Seriously. You can taste the difference, which is the true test of worth.
Have you tried avocado oil mayo?
If you’re in an Ottawa or Montreal (Anywhere in Eastern Canada?)restaurant and want mayonnaise ask for Ranch dressing. You’ll have a 50% chance of getting mayonnaise, a 40 percent chance of getting hummus, and a 10 percent chance of actually getting Ranch.
Don't forget Masto Khiar
Right on with the mayonnaise bitch! Thanks Jen.