Whoopi

A friend gave me a copy of a book by Whoopi Goldberg - a series of essays on her "pet peeves."  As you can imagine, she had a lot of them and wasn't shy about the four-letter words, etc.  I am enjoying reading it.  Maybe all of us should write a book of the things that seriously annoy us and give it to everyone we know.  I'm joking but it might turn out that we agree about a lot of things.

Whoopi thinks that airlines should not serve alcohol because a lot of people on airplanes can't stop with two drinks.  She says that in this time when so many people are nervous about flying anyway, having an unpredictable drunk on board really increases the nervousness.  She also thinks that we should study up on the airline regulations before we go to the airport so that we don't have to act shocked about what's required.  Her thought is that the people manning security do not need a bunch of whining about the regulations since they are not the ones who made them.  We should smile and be polite.  She advises packing light so that we can get our carry on luggage on the plane without a bunch of drama.  People with small children should prepare them for flying so that they're not so likely to be scared.  Take them to the airport first.  Let them see pictures of the inside of a plane.  Take things along for them to do.  Practice good airplane behavior with them for a period of time similar to the time they will be on a plane. 

Whoopi also thinks the way we use cell phones is crazy.  People expect us to be available all the time now - answer the phone whenever it rings, night and day.  She thinks that's unhealthy.  We should have periods of time when we don't answer the phone - like when we're busy, with other people, in a crowded place, when we need solitude, when we're reading or watching a movie, etc.  We can return calls eventually.  No babies will die while we're out of reach - unless we're on call or something.  She thinks everyone should stop thinking that other people should just answer the phone the minute they call and stop leaving messages like, "I'm worried about you because I can't get hold of you." 

I kind of agree with her on this stuff.