Some things defy explanation
Published 3:29 pm Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Big or small, sometimes things are simply baffling. For example:
n Last week Continental Airlines sent two different unaccompanied minors to the wrong cities. An 8-year-old girl headed from Houston to Charlotte on Saturday was mistakenly put on a flight to northwest Arkansas. A day later, a 10-year-old girl headed from Boston to Cleveland was put on a flight to Newark.
The parents, who didn’t have time to escort their children to their gates to make sure they got on the correct flights, had plenty of time afterward to contact lawyers and the media and berate Continental for its lack of caring. The airline admitted its mistakes, apologized for them, and pointed out that thousands of unaccompanied minors fly on their planes every year without incident. Parents can pay airlines — as these parents did — an “unaccompanied minor fee” to help steer kids in the right direction. And they do. But they can’t be parents, they can’t be full-time babysitters. We don’t care how well-traveled and savvy today’s 8-year-olds may be, but they’re too young to be traveling alone. Hold their hand. Make sure they get on the right plane. Hold the hypocrisy.
n China is attempting to save its young people from perverted corruption through its “Green Dam Youth Escort” software, which detects and blocks pornography Web sites and those carrying sexual content. (So about 90 percent of the Internet). The Chinese government has a stellar track record at banning stuff, and eliminating things it doesn’t like. But we’re counting on the power of hormonal youth and their computer skills and their hormones to triumph over the software. See what censorship does? Suddenly porn is worth championing.
n Self-appointed experts take the fun out of hobbies. Take gardening. Yes, if you are going to be a landscape architect, you must understand the elements of design and the “rules,” if people are to pay for your expertise.
For hobbyists, forget about rules. (Unless you live in a gated community). Have fun. Don’t listen to this Associated Press writer who wants to save you from the humiliating mistakes you are going to make when you plant a container: “Design faux pas are easier to spot in containers, and you can avoid them altogether by having someone at a garden center design and plant one for you. Likewise, catalogs sell plants in container combinations. Or go monochromatic and plant a clutch of pansies or a patio rose.”
Because whatever you might dream up might clash and offend someone. So have someone else do it.
Come on. Flowers aren’t snobby. They’ll let you decide what works and what doesn’t.
