Balancing Safety Concerns
I'm still recovering from a near-fatal motorcycle accident 18 months ago, have finally lost the external metalwork from my legs but am still generally walking with either crutches or a collapsible walking stick. Having been a frequent flyer for the last decade, last weekend I undertook my first round trip since my accident.
Apart from doing rather more physio than usual - walking through BHX and AMS on the outbound leg! - it passed off uneventfully.
On the return leg, as the crew were securing the cabin for take-off, one of them (not the senior member) came and asked me to give them my walking stick, which was happily and tidily folded up in the pocket of the seat in front of me, so she could put it in the overhead locker. I pointed out that this wasn't going to help in the event of an evacuation (I *can* walk without it, but slower, and I had a person sitting in the window seat next to me, and was several rows from the nearest exit), to which she retorted that it wouldn't help if I bopped someone over the head with it.
I submitted to the request with a quip about the definition of "securing the cabin" and a chuckle, but personally feel she didn't correctly balance the respective safety concerns. I know there are CC on here - what do you think?