Wednesday, 19 March 2008
The Guardian's leader this morning:Flying has become a modern middle-class hypocrisy, a source of guilt and pleasure all at the same time.
Now, I'm willing to accept that I may not have a finger on the pulse of the nation, but are people really "guilty" about flying? Are there actually people outside the Guardian / Independent Axis of Hand-Wringing who hesitate at the "checkout" screen at Expedia, their pointers hovering, shaky with guilt, over the "Buy" icon, before going back and booking trains to Cornwall instead? And if so, who are they?
I'm booked to fly abroad three times in the next four months, and I have to tell you I am entirely unconflicted about each trip. Am I atypical?
Labels: Hacks, We're all doomed...
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Guilty about flying? What a load of tosh.
I have to fly to my business destinations - they are scattered across Europe; Eindhoven, Hannover, Munich. Although for France it is quicker and more convenient to use the tunnel and drive.
As much as flying terrifies me, do I feel guilty about it? No I fucking don't particularly as the MMGW argument as intriduced by Al "nobel prize for fiction" Gore is becoming ever more transparent as the wheeze to grab funding from govt coffers than it is about "saving the planet".
Scared, yes. Guilty no.
I have to fly to my business destinations - they are scattered across Europe; Eindhoven, Hannover, Munich. Although for France it is quicker and more convenient to use the tunnel and drive.
As much as flying terrifies me, do I feel guilty about it? No I fucking don't particularly as the MMGW argument as intriduced by Al "nobel prize for fiction" Gore is becoming ever more transparent as the wheeze to grab funding from govt coffers than it is about "saving the planet".
Scared, yes. Guilty no.
Like "Henry", I consider the whole AGW scam to be a crock of shit and consequently don't give a toss about my "carbon footprint"!
I don't feel remotely guilty when flying. I tend not to due to the obsessive paranoia over security, but guilt? Not a jot.
Although some of them, to be fair, do actually buy the Guardian, most people I know are racked with guilt at the amount of flying they do.
There is a clear irony in tinkering around with plastic bags and recycling and then taking off on a trip to Australia or somewhere.
But yeah, you're post suggests it is infact me and my mates that are in the minority. So be it...
(I'm still hitting up Thailand in the fall though....!)
There is a clear irony in tinkering around with plastic bags and recycling and then taking off on a trip to Australia or somewhere.
But yeah, you're post suggests it is infact me and my mates that are in the minority. So be it...
(I'm still hitting up Thailand in the fall though....!)
"Now, I'm willing to accept that I may not have a finger on the pulse of the nation, but are people really "guilty" about flying?"
No. Certainly not Al Gore. And not George Monbiot either, when he has a book to hawk...
No. Certainly not Al Gore. And not George Monbiot either, when he has a book to hawk...
And not George Monbiot either, when he has a book to hawk...
Does anyone actually buy that tedious bore's scribblings?
Does anyone actually buy that tedious bore's scribblings?
I certainly do not fell guilty about flying hither and yon. In fact, in doing so, I am doing my bit by reducing my contribution to the local landfill.
But I do agree with Longrider about the relentless (and usually pointless) security rituals which can begin to try one's patience....
But I do agree with Longrider about the relentless (and usually pointless) security rituals which can begin to try one's patience....
I'd second pretty much what Henry Crun says. I have to fly abroad for my job (12 flights to Europe last year). If I refused to fly, I'd be looking for another job most likely.
If there was an alternative to flying, I'd take it. However, there isn't. Nothing to do with guilt, just to do with a deep rooted fear of flying. If I had the option of making the trip any other way, believe me, I would.
And as for anonymous's comment:
"Well you should feel fucking guilty, you cunts!"
Why?
If there was an alternative to flying, I'd take it. However, there isn't. Nothing to do with guilt, just to do with a deep rooted fear of flying. If I had the option of making the trip any other way, believe me, I would.
And as for anonymous's comment:
"Well you should feel fucking guilty, you cunts!"
Why?
'Well you should feel fucking guilty, you cunts!'
I assume that the individual that typed this comment has a clear conscience and a clean carbon footprint. He (and I assume it's a he from the expletives) doesn't drive a car, doesn't heat his house, and doesn't waste electricity by surfing the web and posting abusive comments on blogs.
Oh ... he does.
Then he must be some sort of cunt.
I assume that the individual that typed this comment has a clear conscience and a clean carbon footprint. He (and I assume it's a he from the expletives) doesn't drive a car, doesn't heat his house, and doesn't waste electricity by surfing the web and posting abusive comments on blogs.
Oh ... he does.
Then he must be some sort of cunt.
I'm flying from Ohio to Texas in April, a distance of some 1100 miles. And when my week there is over, I'm flying back.
Now, flying makes me nervous. I also get frustrated as hell when I have to stand in line, take off my shoes, and get wanded just to get on the plane. And I never fail to get a seatmate who's drunk/talky/enormous. So, when I fly in April, I intend to enjoy my carbon footprint, and expand it where possible (by renting a car and putting as many Texas miles on it as I can in a week's time).
Now, flying makes me nervous. I also get frustrated as hell when I have to stand in line, take off my shoes, and get wanded just to get on the plane. And I never fail to get a seatmate who's drunk/talky/enormous. So, when I fly in April, I intend to enjoy my carbon footprint, and expand it where possible (by renting a car and putting as many Texas miles on it as I can in a week's time).
I can only justify flying to visit family members otherwise it is a gross indulgence. But the good thing is those that have no qualms about it are just the sort of riff raff I am glad to see the back of when they leave the country.
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