Chutzpah, Thy Name Is Abbott

Covid-19 is devastating Texas. The state is reporting an average of more than 12,000 new cases a day, and intensive care units are basically full.  Covid tents are once again being erected in hospital parking lots to deal with the surge.

. . . If only there were some kind of vaccine,

In fairness, Texas is certainly not the worst state in terms of vaccination rates, with something like 56% of its eligible residents vaccinated--not great, certainly, but not as bad as some other Deep Red states.  I imagine having liberal bastions like Austin helps.  But the sheer size of Texas's population means that huge numbers of Texans remain unvaccinated, despite the near ubiquitous availability of vaccines.

In the meantime, though, Texas governor Greg Abbott remains steadfast in his refusal to do anything constructive in combatting the virus.  Not only has he refused to implement a statewide mask mandate, he has gone a step further, and forbidden local governments from imposing mask mandates of their own.  At the same time, though, Abbott is begging health care workers from other states to come to Texas to help with the Covid surge.

All I can say is, I hope that--Hippocratic Oath, notwithstanding--these out-of-state health care workers tell Abbott to go fuck himself sideways.  If he's not willing to do anything to mitigate the spread of the virus, why should anyone risk their own health and well-being to bail him out?  If I were a health-care worker, I'd offer to come to Texas if and only if statewide mask mandates are put in place, along with any number of other mitigation measures.  I might also ask for a million dollars a week. Why not?

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In other news, the CEO's of Southwest, American, and Delta Airlines have announced that they will not require their employees to get vaccinated, in contrast to United Airlines, which did impose such a mandate.

Really, Delta? Isn't it bad enough for your corporate image that the plague raging across the country is universally and unrelentingly referred to as the "Delta variant"? You really want to compound that by going on record as being less than fanatical in taking steps to protect your staff and customers?

Fly the Kosher Skies

Long-time Sloppists have noticed that I haven't posted regularly in a long time.  I had considered this a mere personal failing: a source of disappointment in myself, to be sure, but a victimless crime at worst.  Last night, I realized I was wrong.  I came face to face with the face of Solipsist Nation abandoned: a reader--perhaps my ONLY reader--who had come to rely on YNSHC to bring a little joy into his apparently insufficiently joyous life, and whom I had so cavalierly abandoned out of some sense of entitlement--entitlement to rest, to relaxation, to the right to plunge myself into a beer-fueled alcoholic stupor on a regular basis!  Who did I think I was?!?  So, to this Fanatical Follower of Solipsist, I simply say, I shall strive to do better.

Speaking of entitlement, I've spent the last day or so pondering this story in yesterday's paper, about a semi-common occurrence on airplanes.  Apparently, some ultra-Orthodox Jews refuse to sit next to women on airplanes, for fear that they may accidentally come into contact with members of the opposite sex.  Despite the fact that a prominent Orthodox rabbi has given dispensation for whatever incidental contact might occur, a number of Hasidim feel they would rather not chance it.  As you can imagine, though, problems arise when women refuse to relocate to accommodate the--let's face it--medieval strictures of their fellow travelers.

Those of you who follow me on Facebook know that I proposed a simple solution: If the idea of potentially finding himself seated next to a woman so fills a Hasidic gentleman with fear, then all he needs to do to avoid the situation is purchase an extra seat on the plane.  This comment of mine generated a number of comments--tongues more or less planted in cheeks--about the unlikelihood of Jews ponying up the cash for two seats (it should be noted that these comments all came from fellow Jews).  But the point, of course, is social not financial.  If these folks want to avail themselves of the conveniences of modern society (like airplanes), then they are simply going to have to accept the conventions of modern society (like the fundamental equality of the sexes--and let's not get started on THAT; that's a topic for another day).

Ultimately, I don't really have a problem with the Orthodox desire to maintain a separation of the sexes: If that's what they believe, that's what they believe.  The issue I find offensive is that the airlines and/or the other passengers should go out of their way to accommodate them.  I wouldn't have an issue with a Hasidic gentleman going up to another passenger--and for all I know, this happens--and saying politely something to the effect of, "Excuse me, Sir/Madam, I'm seated over in ___, but the seat next to me is occupied by a lady, and my religion prevents me from sitting next to her.  I was wondering if you would be willing to trade seats with me?"

I'm sure he'd find a taker.  Hell, what does the Hasid-proximate lady look like?  Maybe I'll trade seats.  After all, I'm single now.  Think of the possibilities!

"What was that all about?"

"Oh, his religion forbids him from sitting next to beautiful women."

"Really?"

"Well, strictly speaking, his religion prevents him from sitting next to any women.  I threw in the beautiful part."

"Oh, Solipsist!"

Cha-ching!  Mile-high-club!  I love Judaism!

Up in the Air. . .with Cellos

The other night, "The Colbert Report" featured a story about Lynn Harrell, a classical cellist embroiled in a dispute with Delta Airlines:


I enjoyed the bit, and I hate to nitpick. . . Well, that's not true, I enjoy nitpicking, so here goes:

I wanted more from this story than just the spoof of traditional right-wing hysteria over threats to "traditional" marriage.  I want someone to confront Delta Airlines over the treatment of this wonderfully strange but apparently good-natured individual--who happens to be absolutely right in this dispute with Delta.

I have never bothered to enroll in any "Frequent Flier" programs: I fly infrequently enough--and with no particular regard to which airline I choose--that I would never accrue enough mileage to make enrollment worthwhile.  At the same time, though, I assumed I had a basic understanding of how these programs work: A passenger accumulates miles based on the distance he or she travels.  Airlines offer frequent-flier miles as an incentive for loyalty: The more often you fly a particular airline, the more miles you accumulate with said airline.  Of course, the airline benefits from this arrangement, too, as frequent-fliers continue to fill the coffers of their preferred airline as they accumulate miles.

Now, Delta's position in the Harrell case is that a cello--even one so adorably named as "Cello Harrell"--is not a human being and thus cannot accumulate frequent-flier mileage.  Apparently, Delta executives are unaware that the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights does not include frequent flier mileage. 

(DIGRESSION: Surprising, but true: When the Declaration was being drafted, the authors debated long and hard over whether to include frequent-flier miles.  They opted to include "Freedom from arbitrary arrest and exile" instead, and we have had to live with the consequences ever since. EOD)

More to the point, if the purpose of frequent-flier programs is to encourage passengers to fly repeatedly with one airline--in other words, to buy more and more tickets on that airline's flights--then what possible difference does it make to the airline whether the ticket being purchased is ultimately used by a person or by a cello--or, indeed, by no one and nothing at all?  The airline still reaps the financial reward it sought when it offered the mileage program in the first place.

My suggestion: If Delta wants to declare that a cello deserves none of the rights and privileges bestowed upon human beings--because it's not a human being--then that's fine. But then the Delta corporation--which is also not a human being--should not receive any of the rights and privileges afforded to human beings, either: No voting rights, no rights to make political contributions, etc.

Looked at this way. . . . Well, Lynn Harrell may just get his frequent-flier miles back, after all.  You're welcome, Lynn.