3 ms·

This seems apropos: the woman in the cube across from mine just announced she had cancelled her airline flights because of fear of ebola virus, and has decided

by kale 12y ago

This seems apropos: the woman in the cube across from mine just announced she had cancelled her airline flights because of fear of ebola virus, and has decided to drive to Disneyland instead (much longer trip). She wants to cancel (fear of ebola, again), but doesn't want to disappoint her kids.

freehunter 12y ago
A long time ago I saw some statistics that I can't find again, a rundown of how many people died avoiding airplanes after 9/11. They decided it was unsafe to fly so they would drive across country. Driving is much more dangerous than flying, so the number of deaths went up as people avoided the safety of flying and instead were killed in traffic accidents that should never have happened. Take the plane. It's always safer. EDIT - Found it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_Security_Administration#Unintended_consequences_of_2002_screening_enhancements https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_Security_Admini...
- hga 12y ago
  You might be confounding "how many people avoided airplanes", WRT a gambit that was successful for only a few hours (Flight 93), vs. "how many people now avoid the TSA".
  - freehunter 12y ago
    I'm not sure what you're trying to say. My point was, flying is safer and avoiding flying leads to more deaths from traffic accidents, which are way more common. The coworker is more likely to have her entire family killed getting to Disney by car than by plane, especially from ebola. People don't always make rational decisions, and sometimes that can cost a dear price.
    - hga 12y ago
      One of the things I'm saying is that many people don't view physical safety as the end and and be all by which they guide their lives. What you view as not being a "rational decision" may instead be the reflection of a different value system.
      - freehunter 12y ago
        Okay, I understand. Thanks for clarifying. You're probably right, a lot of people do want to avoid going through the TSA lines, as evidenced by the Wikipedia article about the TSA that I linked to. However, the person I was replying to said their coworker was driving to avoid ebola, which indicates that they're not avoiding planes due to dislike of the TSA, but rather to increase their personal safety. Which could end up backfiring, because the chances of being in a serious car accident are much higher than being in a serious airplane incident of any kind. I get what you're saying, though.

by kale 12y ago

freehunter 12y ago

A long time ago I saw some statistics that I can't find again, a rundown of how many people died avoiding airplanes after 9/11. They decided it was unsafe to fly so they would drive across country. Driving is much more dangerous than flying, so the number of deaths went up as people avoided the safety of flying and instead were killed in traffic accidents that should never have happened. Take the plane. It's always safer. EDIT - Found it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_Security_Administration#Unintended_consequences_of_2002_screening_enhancements https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_Security_Admini...

hga 12y ago
You might be confounding "how many people avoided airplanes", WRT a gambit that was successful for only a few hours (Flight 93), vs. "how many people now avoid the TSA".
- freehunter 12y ago
  I'm not sure what you're trying to say. My point was, flying is safer and avoiding flying leads to more deaths from traffic accidents, which are way more common. The coworker is more likely to have her entire family killed getting to Disney by car than by plane, especially from ebola. People don't always make rational decisions, and sometimes that can cost a dear price.
  - hga 12y ago
    One of the things I'm saying is that many people don't view physical safety as the end and and be all by which they guide their lives. What you view as not being a "rational decision" may instead be the reflection of a different value system.
    - freehunter 12y ago
      Okay, I understand. Thanks for clarifying. You're probably right, a lot of people do want to avoid going through the TSA lines, as evidenced by the Wikipedia article about the TSA that I linked to. However, the person I was replying to said their coworker was driving to avoid ebola, which indicates that they're not avoiding planes due to dislike of the TSA, but rather to increase their personal safety. Which could end up backfiring, because the chances of being in a serious car accident are much higher than being in a serious airplane incident of any kind. I get what you're saying, though.