Bruce;
Nice additional comments. Those were the days - dark nights, brilliant clear sky, millions of stars, the Great Magellanic Cloud when pointing south, Sydney flat whites, Bondai...
Gooneyone;
You've run up against the pampered generation (of all ages). The airlines will not talk about safety because it may "frighten the customers/guests/clients" unnecessarily, so passengers take a lot for granted.
However, not only in the airline world have we become accustomed to having our every comfort met, "like right now and if anything hurts and even if it's my fault, you can expect to be sued".
This is an expectant, situationally-unaware generation of travellers who are bathed every moment in technology where their virtual world of pixels and soundbites creates the illusion that reality doesn't bite or kill.
Put your newspaper, blackberry, magazine, iPod down and listen to and watch the cabin crew. Set an example for others.
How many in the Hudson aircraft knew that within four minutes of liftoff, they were going to be relying upon one another for a safe evacuation.
Far too many passengers take their safety for granted, when it is their responsibility to do as much as possible to ensure their own safety, just as we do in the aircraft and the industry.
Not wearing shoes for takeoff and landing means a very nasty evacuation, possibly over sharp metal and/or burning debris.
Not wearing/having ready, warm clothing when coming from a tropical holiday into the dead of winter is simply stupid and thoughtless of one's personal safety.
Wearing the seatbelt at all times is absolutely necessary.
Drinking too much affects one's own safety and the safety of those around one - and it takes about half the alcohol at cabin altitude to get one drunk due to quicker absorption in the bloodstream due to the partial pressure of the cabin.
Making sure children behave and not permitting them to run up and down the aisles seems to have left the repertoire of many parents' childraising skills and values.
Very little in an airplane goes wrong as a result of the airline or the staff. We/they know exactly what to do. Most incidents can be mitigated by a passenger taking the necessary responsibility themselves for their, their loved ones' and others' cabin safety.
PJ2