Being a horse's ass seems to be a reflexive action for Alec Baldwin. Now he's gone and dragged Greyhound into his latest act of airline jerkness:
“There are many now who walk the aisles of an airplane with a whistle around their neck and a clipboard in their hands and they have made flying a Greyhound bus experience.” He then continued that he won't keep his phone on “when the 1950s gym teacher is on duty.”
A Greyhound representative immediately fired back with a bit of hyperbolic puffery about providing "safe and enjoyable service" for "about 17.6 million people who travel with us every year who I'm sure wouldn't share [his] feelings.” I wouldn't go overboard in my praise, but I guess you could count me as one of thise 17.6 million. I haven't ridden the bus that often, but when I did I found it interesting enough to be enjoyable.
You meet a different sort of people on the bus than you encounter on a plane, and the thing is that you really do meet them. The goal on a plane (mine, at least) is to interact with fellow passengers as little as possible, especially the guy in the seat next to me, who for some reason always seems to be the most annoying person I've met until then.
On a bus, though, it seems natural to talk to people, even get into a discussion with more than one person at a time. It doesn't exactly make you Christmas card-exchanging buddies, but at the end of the trip you at least feel a little more connected to the human race.
Comments
Greyhound is touchy. Years ago, they raised a stink over Harry Chapin's song "Take the Greyhound." Partial lyric: "It's a dog of a way to get around."
I misspent much of my youth on Greyhounds in the U.S. and Canada. You could make better time on a bicycle.
But planes are worse. I pity the people who have to sit next to me. I don't fit in coach, but I can't afford first class. I don't mean to hog both armrests; I just can't help it.
That excerpt really misrepresents Baldwin's comments. He's really saying that Greyhound's demographics and inner city terminals are providing the equal of luxury jetset travel:
"It's no secret that the level of service on US carriers has deteriorated to a point that would make Howard Hughes red-faced. Filthy planes, barely edible meals, cuts in jet service to less-traveled locations. One of the big changes, in my time, is in the increase of the post-9/11, paramilitary bearing of much of the air travel business. September 11th was a horrific day in the airline industry, yet in the wake of that event, I believe carriers and airports have used that as an excuse to make the air travel experience as inelegant as possible.
"Most of the flight attendants I have ever encountered still have some remnant of the old idea of service. Add to that the notion that in this day and age, many people have a lot of important work to do, by phone, and would like to do so till the last possible minute. But there are many now who walk the aisles of an airplane with a whistle around their neck and a clipboard in their hands and they have made flying a Greyhound bus experience."
Those who remember that Fort Wayne International used to be called Smith Field also remember that air travel used to mean dressing up in your best church clothes, ladies wearing white gloves.