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Article: The empire of the sun. (air travel)
- Article from:
- U.S. News & World Report
- Article date:
- March 20, 1989
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1989 All rights reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Air travel has dominated the nation's mind these past weeks, and thoughts of it, as usual, are mixed. One feels about flying the way one feels about an old and crazy lover: much pleasure, much danger, much foolishness, much convenience. The convenience is brought to mind by the Eastern Air Lines strike, when television shows recognizable scenes of stranded passengers raging, pouting, waddling around airports like winged ducks, gloomy with fear of being grounded. Not 30 years ago, the idea of flying from place to place was an occasion for squealing excitement. Today, air travel is as normal as gossip, characterized by its own language, humor, culture. It has altered ...