Randomness

[honeybee]

I can't imagine many jobs more stressful than ticket agent at an airport gate. Between people who are justifiably irate, people who are just jerks, and people who are scared to death or dealing with emotional trauma on their way to sick people or dead relatives, plus the inevitable people who are trying to fit a bus worth of carry-on luggage on, and then the responsibility to personally assess the risk that any given passenger might engage in terrorism/giving birth/being a drunken lout/etc. ... bleah!!!

I watched an episode of Air Crash Investigation about the Air India bombing back in the 80s. A Canadian ticketing/check-in agent allowed a man to check a bag through to India when, if I recall correctly, the bag should have been rechecked in the connecting city. The woman knew it was against regulations but the woman and several witnesses testified that the man badgered her so hard that she gave in - something people did all the time back then. She had to live with the fact that a bomb was in that bag and nearly 400 people died. Awful.

Aikiweezie, my intense dislike of O'hara is based on the fact that the terminal that I always end up - (wherever US Air connects though) - has very little vegetarian food options. I always tell myself I'm going to find my way to a better terminal to eat, but never manage to do so. I just end up cranky and hungry. You can't get a vegetarian meal on US Air anymore either. But even I know there has to be a better terminal in the world's largest airport.

[WarpGirl]

Is it against the law to take food on a plane?

[honeybee]

No. It's not against the law to take food on a plane. In fact, these days it's encouraged to buy food in the terminal and carry it on. However, people who bring on aromatic fast food are generally shunned by other passengers.

However, I don't know what the rules are about taking food through security. I always have some snacks in my carry on - trail mix and the like - but I am totally programmed to travel light so I've never tried to pack a meal.

You cannot take anything liquid through security (excepting the 3-1-1 rule for toiletries and I think breast milk is exempt.) . So, I imagine they would snatch things like condiments or soup or anything like that. I'm sure with a little applied thought one could pack a security friendly meal for themselves.

[WarpGirl]

I doubt Peanut butter and jelly is a threat to national security. Shouldn't it be world security though? I mean seriously how many flights have only american citizens on them now?

[Alelou]

Don't count on pb&j. I've been on a flight where they told us we had an allergic passenger and needed to discard every peanut-containing snack we might have brought with us. Their solution was to offer us bags of potato chips instead. (Gee, thanks.)

[WarpGirl]

That makes no sense they give you packets of peanuts on every flight I've ever been on.

[Alelou]

Yeah, well, they obviously didn't on this one.

I didn't throw out my peanut snacks like they asked us to, but I didn't open them, either. A plane trip is not where you want someone to go into anaphylactic shock.

[Aquarius]

That makes no sense they give you packets of peanuts on every flight I've ever been on.

These days it's usually pretzels.

[WarpGirl]

Obviously Alelou. It's just I find it a little hard to believe, I mean do people tell the airlines before hand no peanuts? Because I would think they wouldn't have peanuts at all. Granted the last time I was on a plane was 4 years ago this July. But surely people allergic to peanuts have been on flights with them before. And as my mother and aunt say "Always always carry your epi-pen." It can save your life.

[Alelou]

If you are so deadly allergic to peanuts that merely having them in the same airplane with you can send you into a reaction, then of course you tell the airline. I'm sure that's what happened.

It's pretty rare, but it happens. I know a school nurse who said they had to outlaw all balloons from the school because a kid there had such a bad latex allergy just having one somewhere in the school could send him into a reaction.

Apparently my father almost died during his kidney procedure because he was horribly allergic to levaquin. He started foaming at the mouth and nose and either passed out or they knocked him out while they dealt with it. Then the urologist, who's a friend of his, sent him home with sulfa drugs, which he had a reaction to, so they gave him a prescription for Cipro. Fortunately my mom mentioned this to a nurse in the neighborhood before he took any because she said if he was allergic to the one he'd probably react to the other, too. They called the doctor's office and they said, ugh... she's right. You need a different one.

Nice to know they were paying such good attention.

[WarpGirl]

Yeah well people always try to give me benadryl when I react, and I'm like I'm allergic to benadryl. I understand that it does happen. But you made it sound standard.

[honeybee]

Epi pens are great - but it is always better to avoid anaphylactic shock because the epi pens aren't a sure thing.

I would happily live without my trail mix and peanuts to avoid nearly killing someone.

It does sometimes present a problem if it is an ongoing thing. Some elementary schools have tried to outright ban peanuts for the benefit of one allergic student. And I can more than understand the parents - not wanting their kid to die - pushing for that. But peanuts and peanut butter are a good, cheap source of protein. And it is unfair to make every student in the school give up a healthy snack for the sake of one student over multiple years - if a safe alternative can be found. I remember reading that one school compromised - creating a peanut free classroom that other parents could opt out of - and they did wind up creating a small, separate eating area for the little allergic girl - but her friends from the peanut free classroom could eat with her.

I'm not going to sit in judgment of a the girl's parents though. I'd probably want a full peanut ban, too, if it were my kid. But a safe alternative was worked out.

[Aquarius]

On all the flights I've been on in the last 10 years, they've served pretzels, presumably for this reason. This has been on Northwest flights mostly, but also one Spirit flight, and one Southwest Airlines flight.

The school thing is a tricky situation. If it was my kid, I'd be angling for the compromise, not for the whole school to change just for one person the way other parents have. It just isn't fair to the other kids and families. Even now I rely on the PB&J lunch for it's cheapness/comfort food value.

[Alelou]

Yeah, I remember the summer camp in Dumont had a ban on all peanut products because of one kid. At the time, it was practically the only thing my kid would eat, so I was very frustrated.

[honeybee]

I would hope that I would want to compromise. But I do understand how parents can get paranoid and demanding when someone's "my kid wants a pb&j" is argued in the face of their "my kid will drop dead if exposed" - and for a long while - doctors were telling the parents "there can be no compromise."

Now, that last part doesn't seem so true and hopefully everyone can be accommodated.

And for the record. I looooove PB&Js. I used to go to this cafe in NYC - PB&Js. Dozens of peanut butter and bread combinations available. All they served was PB&J. Yum.