Quiz-show host: “This is your final question. Get this right and you will win 1 million
dollars. Are you ready? Okay. Name
five things you can commonly see on an American airplane.”
Sweating contestant: “Umm... Cabin crew, passengers, luggage,
a coffee trolley... Umm... ummm...
Snakes?”
The quiz-show host pauses dramatically. “Cabin crew – yes. Passengers – Yes. Luggage – Yes. A coffee trolley – Yes. Snakes? - ...Yes! Congratulations! You win a million dollars!”
Okay. I made up
the exchange above. And I might be
exaggerating a little by saying that snakes are common on planes. But the quiz is based upon a real article I
read on the BBC today.
Usually, if a passenger wishes to take an animal onto a
plane, they have to pay a lot of money to have the animal stowed in a
separate area, along with the checked-in baggage. But blind passengers are allowed to sit with their
guide dogs in the passenger compartment.
And people who suffer extreme anxiety from flying are allowed to
take an “emotional support animal” (ie. a pet) with them into the passenger
compartment, to sit beside them during the flight. These animals are often dogs or cats but have
included birds, rats, and even snakes.
I’m not joking! The
news article said that United Airlines had just adopted a stricter
policy. They have banned hedgehogs,
insects and reptiles from the passenger compartment. They have had to do this because of
increasing problems with animals biting cabin-crew, peeing on the floor
etc. The airline received over 70,000
requests last year alone to accommodate emotional support animals.
I am glad to say that British airlines generally don’t allow
emotional support animals, although they do allow blind passengers to sit with
their guide dogs. This seems to be a
peculiarly American phenomenon.
Are Americans really so emotionally fragile that they
cannot go anywhere without Harry the Hedgehog in their pocket? If someone is so terrified of flying, is
stroking their pet snake really a more medically effective way of controlling
their anxiety than taking a pill, or taking a ship/train?
Maybe the real reason for the surprisingly large number of
Americans taking emotional support animals into the passenger compartment is
financial. You have to pay a lot of
money to put an animal in the hold of an aircraft. But to avoid penalising genuinely sick
or disabled people, guide dogs and other support animals can be brought onto
many airlines for free or a reduced price.
I suffer from extreme flight anxiety too. That’s why I’m campaigning for airlines to
provide free “emotional support parachutes” to all passengers who have this
terrible condition.
Vocabulary:
to make something up – to invent something; to create
fiction
an exchange – a conversation; a series of comments between
two people
to exaggerate – to make something seem bigger, worse etc.
than it really is
to stow something – to pack or place something carefully
a guide dog – a specially trained dog, used by blind people
to help them get around
anxiety – a feeling of strong uncertainty or insecurity
the passenger compartment – the part of an aircraft where
the passengers sit
to adopt – to start to use
fragile – easily broken or damaged
to penalise someone – to punish someone; to make someone pay
a penalty
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