Like christep, I have been disappointed by some of the responses to his query. As intelligent (?) pax, we have to be aware that cabin staff:
- are highly trained (and probably underpaid ;-));
- take their safety responsibilities seriously; and
- get asked some damn silly questions:
but I'm not sure that excuses the tone of some of the responses that have been given here.
I feel I can understand why some issues aren't dealt with, or are dealt with in a vaguely comforting way, in the safety briefing: though I do treasure the videos that show pax calmly helping each other put on oxy masks (and "breathing normally"), and particularly the wonderful BA lady who stands at the top of the slide blowing her whistle!
I do feel, however, that more information could be provided on (a) the brace position, and (b) smoke protection. As regards (a), I feel this might just help discourage the morons who feel entitled to recline their seats before takeoff, thus depriving the pax behind of the opportunity to adopt the brace position. As regards (b), like christep I had never realised the designed role of the seat clothing. I do feel that this, and any other useful information, should be made available to pax in the safety card. Who knows, if airlines start addressing the real issues in the safety card, they could find pax taking more notice. Think, for instance, of the greatly heightened pax awareness surrounding hijack issues in the wake of Sept 11th last.
One last thing: I hope it never comes to be considered "out of order" for denizens of one forum to raise - politely - issues in other forums, if the subject matter seems to demand it.
One really last thing: if it's true about the teeth, christep, you're going to have a hard job keeping your tongue in your cheek
