Talk Story
Aloha is best antidote
to the air travel hassleAFTER my last column, which was about my travel experiences over the holidays, Bob Gailey of Utah sent me a note:
"I have just about finished all the reservations for our annual trip to your lovely islands," he writes. "I say just about finished because I must admit some concern with my final task ... airline reservations.
"We're not afraid of flying so much as we are with the hassle with airport security, the long lines and other delays similar to what happened in your airport the other day."
Bob and his wife have been coming to Hawaii since 1961, often persuading somebody new to the islands to come along to "enjoy the aloha spirit we have truly come to love."
"However," he writes, "that may come to an end following this trip."
Why? Bob says he's noticed our aloha spirit is waning. "Perhaps it is the public schools (the teachers were on strike last year we were there) and the attitudes of those involved. Perhaps it's the new traffic cams that will 'zap' me if I go one mile over the speed limit.
"I don't know what it is, but it has caused us to reconsider our retirement plans that would have brought us permanently to Hawaii. In fact, as I mentioned earlier, this may be our last trip to your islands."
We "just can't see dropping thousands of dollars each year only to be so worried about receiving traffic citations ... that we forget why we're there in the first place. Is this the aloha spirit I remember from years past? I certainly don't think so."
I replied: "Thanks for the note, Bob. The airport situation isn't unendurable. We need to remember that the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon began as hijackings of commercial airliners. In fact, two of the planes hijacked --American's Flight 11 and United's Flight 175 -- began at Logan Airport, where my repeated search prompted the column.
"Tighter security is certainly justified, but that doesn't mean the humans charged with the task are all doing the job brilliantly. There are blockheads in airport security as there are in every enterprise.
"We're at war -- a very comfortable war fought with surgical air strikes and covert special service troops. There are no rice-paddy fire fights or daily body counts on the evening news. No war bond drives, rationing or conscription.
"Nope, instead we're encouraged to carry on normally and to keep consuming at a peacetime pace lest the economy tank. Face it, Bob, we're spoiled and our leaders want us to stay that way -- in fact, they're counting on it.
"Pampered consumers standing in long, unmoving lines at ticket counters or security checkpoints easily forget all that.
"The point of my column was that tourism-dependent Hawaii, where there are no trains or superhighways to take up the slack, is uniquely vulnerable to the fact that post-Sept. 11 air travel is still annoying.
"However, my sister in New Hampshire tells me the home-bound traffic on New England's interstate highways was so miserable on New Year's Day that we shouldn't worry too much.
"By September 2001, Hawaii had just about escaped our decade-long recession. The governor says the economy grew at a 5.3 percent clip in 2000 and the state had regained its AA bond rating.
"The picture for 2001 wasn't as rosy, but state revenues were still up 4 percent before Sept. 11. Afterwards, they were forecast to dip 0.7 percent -- a 5 percent swing. Hawaii faced deficits, layoffs, program cuts and company closures.
"As for the traffic cams, although their introduction was Grinch-like and ill-timed, Hawaii has suffered a spate of spectacular highway deaths linked to high speeds and street racing. A deterrent that pays for itself is irresistible compared to expanding HPD at a time of budget constraints.
"There's no aloha in allowing the carnage to continue.
"Still, I agree with the letter to the editor writer who feels the camera vans are misplaced and should be in residential neighborhoods where speeding drivers pose a more direct threat and where they would be warmly welcomed.
"Of course, these opinions are uninformed. My first traffic-cam ticket has yet to arrive in my mailbox."
John Flanagan is the Star-Bulletin's contributing editor.
He can be reached at: jflanagan@starbulletin.com.