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Walkabout: Death by Economy
There's a new danger in the sky. It's called media hype
By DAFFYD RODERICK
October
27, 2000
Web posted at 4:20 p.m. Hong Kong time, 4:20 a.m. EDT
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This week the media the world over carried stories about Deep Vein Thrombosis.
It isn't the first time the media has covered the issue -- I've written several
articles myself -- but it was approached as if it was a new danger in the skies,
possibly lurking under every seat.
The real reason it was covered so vehemently was that most journalists have to
fly economy -- and they hate it. Because economy class sucks. So the death of
28-year-old Briton Emma Christoffersen from Deep Vein Thrombosis minutes after a
20-hour Qantas flight from Australia, was a convenient peg to hang all this
pent-up frustration on. Experts were trotted out to say that sitting in a
confined space was not only annoying, but also possibly deadly. Stuffy airline
corporate types were put on TV face-to-face with "serious" journalists and asked
tough questions:
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Q: So, Mr Airline, do you fly economy?
A: No.
Q: Why not, are you afraid of Deep Vein Thrombosis?
A: Uh, no.
Q: (leaning towards Mr Airline) So you're not afraid of this killer
in the skies?
A:Yes. No. I don't know.
And for the first time in my life, I found myself sympathizing with the
airlines. All this talk about Economy Class Syndrome has given me Stockholm
Syndrome. Millions of people fly millions of miles every year and suffer no more
than indigestion and boredom. Yes, it's sad that people die of this. Yes,
sitting in cramped conditions brings it on, but traveling has always had risks.
While it's good to educate people about possible risks, it's also important to
not get carried away. There's no need to break out the buzzwords. Your chance of
getting 'Y Class Syndrome,' developing a 'Long Haul Clot' and having a headline
in your honor reading "Death by Economy" is quite low. But because the media is
so pervasive, grannies in Uzbekistan -- who have never earned a frequent flyer
mile in their life -- are vowing off economy class.
Air France, with that Gallic sense of irony, conducts video-led in-flight yoga
classes featuring a gorgeous woman going through the "Airlineseatsutra."
Slightly cruel to show this woman stretched out on the bow of a boat somewhere
in Mauritius to 300 people sitting in "cattle class," but it is effective in
making them think about doing something other than economy.
My advice is just do what every story on surviving economy class suggests: drink
lots of water, get up and move around at least once an hour, and stretch in your
seat as much as humanly possible.
Now, I've just saved you from reading about three hours of features in the
Sunday paper. You can thank me later.
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