First World Problems or Future Shock …

I said I wouldn’t post again until Tokyo but sorry dear reader, the following is the immediate consequence of too long a wait at the airport. Only read if you have some time.

Today we fly to Tokyo from Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) just outside Paris. We had stayed a night at the hip Hotel Moxy very near the airport. Checkout there was a civilised 12 noon, thankfully because check in for our flight isn’t until 5:30pm, and the plane doesn’t leave until 8:25pm. So dear reader, it’s not only the long flights that are punishing, it is also the interminable spaces in between. First world problems I hear you cry, and you’d be right!

The Japan experiences will be recorded as a separate Trip since we will be three. Johanna is joining us for her 50th Birthday present - a trip around Japan.

Nevertheless the prospect of sitting in economy class for 14 hours is made worse by hanging out in the impersonal departure zone of international airports which are all the same, but terrible in their own ways. I made a little video of the airport circular train station at CDG to demonstrate their strange beauty when empty. I also took a couple of shots on our walk over here to Terminal (perfect name) 2. Remember when Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock was all the rage? Well folks this is it. Meanwhile if you’re in the mood, here’s a little ‘essay’ I wrote on the plane coming over to the UK, and this seemed like a good place to insert it.

✈️ Reflections on the long haul flight ✈️

Preparing for a long haul flight can roughly be equated with preparing for a major medical procedure. Remove all jewellery, wear your special stockings, be as clean as possible, erase individuality, and be ready to submit yourself to invasive scrutiny of customs and airports, as well as the potentially dangerous, nay life-threatening, experience. Trust the experts, you have no other choice. The MAGA crowd must really hate flying!

Once on the plane, a sociological lesson on the inequalities of the capitalist classes system immediately become apparent. Ostensibly there are three classes on the plane, but really there are four if you include the cabin crew which is itself a kind of hierarchical administrative state that runs parallel to the pyramidal three class structure of the passengers. This state has an outward facing group, meticulously groomed, almost always smiling, never loud. They serve the passengers and take their ultimate instructions from the “deep state” of the captain and flight crew. The ministrations of the cabin crew have both a service and a disciplinary aspect. They are as much as anything, tonal agents shaping the ways in which the temporary assemblies of class groups will behave.

As for the passenger class pyramid, this is strictly demarcated by the spatial arrangement of the plane. First class passengers (sometimes called “Business” although in most cases this is a misnomer) are secluded in their “pods” at the front of the plane nearest to the ultimate seat of power that is the flight deck. They will eat special foods, wear special clothes provided by the airline, moisturize and deodorize their skin with luxury products, and sleep the sleep of the wealthy (outstretched and alone), snug as bugs in a rug.

Next comes the Premium class. The premium people pay extra money for more leg room, sometimes larger seats, and fewer compatriots in the vicinity. They may get better everything (especially access to the loos) than the lowest class, but this depends on the airline. They often have a separate section of the plane.

At the bottom of the pyramid comes the “economy” class. They pay the least money and therefore must put up with the most discomfort. But this word “economy” has a double edge. It also applies to the airline whose “economy” is successful because they cram as many punters as possible into the back of the plane, give them basic supplies - that is, enough bread and circuses (inflight entertainment) to keep them quiet.

The sociology of a long haul flight is thus, depending on where you sit, an education in Marxist critique or a celebration of the delights of capitalism. Can we ever get to the point where these divisions are not inscribed in air travel? Why can’t we all be “business” style travellers? Now there’s air travel that I could love, instead of endure!Baca lagi