We're getting old, folks...

In article PVKqf.645770$_o.446153@attbi_s71,
Jay Honeck wrote:
First, my wife does not like flying.

If I had a nickel for every time I've heard this from a pilot, I'd be rich.

What *is* it with you guys, all hanging around with gals who don't like to
fly?

It didn't really come up in our relationship until much later (we had
been married for a number of years when I finally decided to learn to
fly). If you have to choose between a hobby and your spouse ... well,
I guess the choice is obvious to me. If you had a spouse that didn't
like flying, would that be a deal-breaker for the relationship?

I'm not sure why this is so different now than, say, 20 years ago.
It seems people are a lot more scared of things in general than
they used to be. Maybe that translates into more scared spouses,
and as a result less active pilots.

--Ken

"Ken Hornstein" wrote

I'm not sure why this is so different now than, say, 20 years ago.
It seems people are a lot more scared of things in general than
they used to be. Maybe that translates into more scared spouses,
and as a result less active pilots.

Heck yeah! Shoot, now days, people are afraid to fart. Fear of destroying
the ozone, or not being politically correct, or starting a fire, or of being
sued. Too many lawyers, and judges allowing frivolous law suites!
--
Jim (all for farts) in NC

Ken Hornstein wrote:

It seems people are a lot more scared of things in general than
they used to be.

I think it's cultural, but I cannot quite point out what's been causing the
drift. I know that we in the US take care at a level that is quite out of
place in many other places in the world.

There was this restaurant in Bali, for example, which had open fish tanks in
the floor. The uncareful could walk right into one (as a friend did {8^).
I cannot picture that in the US.

Admittedly, that's likely an artifact of our litigious society. But look at
school buses and seat belts for another example. Hmm...that too could be a
liability issue.

Well, what about certification requirements for aircraft? Collision lights,
shoulder belts, etc. were requirements added only relatively recently.

Fire detectors: as a kid, my homes never had anything of the sort. Now,
they're everywhere I look.

I'm not saying that the extra layers of protection we're adding are bad.
But perhaps there's something else coming along with that: an idea that we
can control the world enough to achieve the mythical concept of "Perfect
Safety".

- Andrew