Well, I most certainly do not teach pilots to be one-armed bandits nor is that the way things are laid down in our SOPs. When the automatics are engaged then the PF should programme the MCP. When hand flying then the PNF should programme the MCP.
Let me tell you that not everyone in Arizona is a one-armed bandit. I have trained many young men who have come out of the SABENA Academy at Scottsdale and they have all been very good.
I think we just have to be grateful that the chances of having to share the sky with an L1011 driven by the ancient mariner is so small as to be almost negligible.
Having said that, programming the MCP and doing the radio at the same time is hardly arduous for the PNF and certainly is not exactly what I would call demanding.