Traveling is still great fun. It's just the airplane rides that are no longer fun and getting to the plane stinks. More and more people jammed into smaller and smaller spaces. No food. More luggage in the overhead (and we Americans have to take everything we own on every trip). More and more rude people in general in the US, but now we are jammed with them millimeters from our faces. TSOs that yell and scream.

Of course I remember when flying was very, very expensive. Women dressed up to get on the plane (they dressed up to go downtown, when there used to be downtowns). FAs (they were stewardesses then) were young and happy and willing to go out of their way to help you (even if you were another woman).

While a lot of the stress in flying comes from the super silly security stuff, a lot of what has happened we have done to ourselves. We have asked for cheaper and cheaper flights. As a country the USA has become more rude and much more me-centered. We have our rights: you can't recline your seat into my space but I will recline into yours as far as my seat will go. It would do a lot if the pendulum on our behavior would swing back to civility. How much does a smile cost? How much does a "I'm sorry" cost? How much does a "I'm about to recline my seat" cost? How much would it cost to wonder if the rude person in front of you is having a bad day? How much would it cost to be nice to that beleaguered mother? Imagine if each FTer would decide to be not simply civil but super nice today on your flight.