This whole business of people on planes not wearing masks and the whole flight getting diverted is ridiculous. Have a requirement to wear a mask in a spaced out queue to board the plane. Anybody not wearing a mask does not board the plane.
Parents can make a game and persuade their child to wear the mask. They could even make funny masks and let the child choose the mask and admire itself in a mirror and watch a video.
If the child is so out of control that it cannot follow an instruction or request, then it is a danger on the plane because it could throw a trantrum in the exit in an emergency and should not be allowed on the plane.
Neither passengers nor staff should be endangered by children and adults breathing and screaming droplets which can endanger other people's lives in confined spaces.
Those wearing masks board the plane. No plane delays nor diversions. No problem. Everybody happy. No upset on board. Plenty of time for the passengers to get used to the mask or idea.
A friend commented: No flights would be even better.
I replied:
Your wish is partly granted. Flights have diminished considerably. Airports such as Changi in Singapore and Heathrow in London, England, are deserted with shut shops.
A relative of mine asked airline staff how her colleagues were coping. She said, "Airline staff have been diverted to ground jobs or lost their jobs."
Those travelling included:
1 people such as parents of bride or groom on their way to weddings (already postponed, cannot be postponed further because bride will be too old to have children or parents and grandparents could be sick or dead);
2 People taking emergency flight to see sick, dying relatives.
I recall a few years ago, 2001, I was in Singapore celebrating my birthday at a restaurant. I got a call from my son in London. He said,
"Happy birthday, Mum. How soon can you get a flight back to London? Grandad is sitting on the toilet with his head in the basin. He can talk but - he's breathing funny. He is taking his blood thinner pills. But he won't eat and drink. He doesn't want me to call a doctor. You need to come back straight away."
I didn't have time to fetch my passport, book a ticket, and catch the last flight of the day. I booked the flight next morning.
I arrived in London, phoned the doctor who said, "Get your father off the warfarin; make him drink Water, sip water. I'll be over within the hour. If he can't move, can you open the door and let me in?"
I moved back to the UK and kept my father going another four years.
3 Students returning to their course after getting caught in quarantine a home country or holiday country during Covid10.
A recent (September 2020) Singapore Airlines flight to London had students returning from Singapore to the UK. All spaced out. Two members of my family both had three seats to lie across.
The transit passengers from Australia were not allowed to mix with us in the departure lounges nor on the plane. We were not called from the airport club lounge until after passengers had boarded. We did not sit and wait in the departure lounge but went straight to the gate.
The transit passengers had exited from the back of the plane and boarded at the back of the plane. Through passengers flying direct from Singapore to London boarded from the front of the plane. We did not pass anybody else. Nobody passed us.
So far so good.
We had no children on my plane. No crying babies. Wonderful. Peace, perfect peace.
I have been thinking about masks.through the post (americans say mail) I received a catalogue from a French art museum in a converted swimming pool in Rubaix. What caught my attention was a picture of children in masks. They had made the masks in a workshop and wear wearing the masks proudly.
Perhaps it would be easier to persuade children to wear masks if:
1 They decorated the masks themselves
2 They chose animals for the faces
3 The masks had ears and drawn on mouth.
Parents and airline staff smiled at the child wearing the mask.
The mask could say: Please admire this mask. I painted it!
Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronavirus_disease_2019
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Face_masks_during_the_COVID-19_pandemic
About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and phtographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.
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