SANTA Fe, N.M, - Since before Bing Crosby cut "I'll be home for Christmas," this has been the premier holiday for travelers. The etiquette of
the red eyeIn the '90s, getting to family gatherings on the mainland for many of us means taking the red eye - one of those late evening hops to the West Coast that take off from Honolulu between 8:30 and 11 p.m. and arrive by dawn's early light. My strategy for getting my body clock adjusted to a mainland time zone is to fly at night and stay up all the next day. That way, I can go to sleep when everybody at my destination does and, with luck, wake up when they do.
Seasoned travelers know that for this to work, you have to get at least a few hours of sleep in the air. The airlines have finally figured this out. They turn off the lights and avoid inane announcements about head winds, tail winds and computing the exact time of arrival. Clip your seat belt outside the blanket where they can see it, and the flight crew will leave you alone.
The bane of red-eye regulars are the conversationalists who exchange life stories at 105 decibels all the way across the Pacific. Sleep does not come easily in the confines of economy class and, when it does, it's fragile. Shouting to cut through the high-pitched drone of jet engines, these people have neither mercy nor concern for their shipmates.
We wish them a Bleary Christmas and a Silent New Year.
