Search

“Selfish” husband leaves wife behind for first class upgrade on their honeymoon

A woman has shared her frustration over a journey she took with her new husband to their honeymoon destination. The wife’s “selfish” husband was quick to ditch her on their way to Mexico for their honeymoon after he was offered an upgrade to business class. The woman took to Reddit to share the story of what began at the airport shortly after their wedding, while also explaining that as a frequent flyer, she had racked up a hefty amount of points. In comparison, her new husband is an anxious flyer, who often relies on her to keep him calm during take off and landing. “When I booked our flights I requested to use my points if an upgrade to business class became available, but made it clear I only wanted this upgrade if two seats became available... and then I basically forgot about it,” the wife explained in a Reddit thread. “Then comes the day of our flight. I was so excited for this trip, I checked us in online, all is going well, and then when we go to board, the employee scanning our boarding passes stops us.” “She says it seems that my husband was upgraded to business class, but only him and asks if that is okay.” The wife immediately replied, “No, we are on our honeymoon and would like to stay together”, however, her husband interjected, saying, “No it’s fine, I’ll go to business class.” Approximately 500 of her hard earned points went to his upgrade, while she was left alone in economy for the trip. Stunned by his response, she said: “I look at him in complete shock and he tells me that I fly all the time and have been in business class before, but he hasn’t. So he deserves a chance to experience it. “I see we are holding up the line, so I feel like I just need to agree and get on the plane. “To say I am p***ed off is an understatement.” After boarding the flight, the woman became overcome with emotion over her new husband’s actions. “Within maybe five to 10 minutes of sitting there, trying to hold back tears because my husband left me alone on our flight during our honeymoon — and use my points for his upgrade no less, he starts to text me saying he feels anxiety over flying.” Instead of expressing sympathy, she decided to ignore his texts. “I stopped looking at my phone,” the wife said. Just one hour into the flight, her husband began looking for her in economy class. “He comes to the back of the plane to find me, offers me half of his business class breakfast and asks me why I was ignoring him... because he was scared and needed me to tell him it’d be okay since I am such an experienced flyer,” she explained. “I told him maybe he should have thought about that before leaving me alone before our honeymoon even really began.” “He gets angry, tells me that this may be the only time he gets to fly business class and he was giving me half his breakfast to make up for it so I could at least be supportive of his genuine fear.” When they landed in Mexico, she tried to just “move on and forget” about what her husband did so they could enjoy their honeymoon. “But he guilt tripped me about not comforting him via text before take off and now I am wondering if I am being unreasonable and should have just let him enjoy his time in business class and assure him it’d be okay?” she wondered. She asked the internet whether she was being the a**hole for not being supportive of her husband. Many jumped to the wife’s defence, with one suggesting, “Definitely not the a**hole. Tell your husband actions have consequences and since he wanted to be in business class without you, he gets to fly without you. The fact he did this on your honeymoon trip just makes it worse.” Image credits: Getty Images

Travel Trouble

Flight cancelled after parents demand free upgrade for their child

A flight was delayed for hours before being ultimately cancelled after two parents demanded that their child was upgraded to first class for free. A plane in China was grounded for three hours after the parents caused a ruckus with the cabin crew, and were eventually kicked off the aircraft. According to a fellow passenger, the argument kicked off when an unsupervised child began to sob uncontrollably after boarding a flight from Chengdu to Beijing. As it turned out, the inconsolable toddler’s parents were seated in first class but had only bought their child an economy ticket. It was then that the angry dad confronted the staff, demanding that his son be moved to first class at no extra cost. According to the South China Morning Post, the irate dad explained that because he had already paid for two first class tickets, his child’s upgrade should be free. In the clip shot by a fellow passenger, the outraged dad began berating a group of passengers, crew members, and security guards as they repeatedly explained why his child isn’t entitled to an upgrade. “Stop swearing at me,” fumed the father. “You have no right to do that.” When a security guard attempts to de-escalate the situation, the parent lays into him, shouting: “What gives you the right to order me about?” This prompts a woman to retort: “You’ve wasted too much of our time and we won’t tolerate it any longer.” After three hours of back and forth, the couple were eventually kicked off the plane, while the flight was cancelled. The entitled passenger has since been rinsed on social media with one commenter fuming, “This man is so selfish.” Others suggested solutions for the father that didn’t involve the airline giving the man an extra first-class seat. “He can switch seats,” advised one person. “Let him sit in economy class, and have the mum take care of the child in the first-class cabin.” Some on social media were quick to chastise the airline for their handling of the situation, with one person writing, “Keeping the quarrel going for hours? The problem-solving skills of the crew are poor.” Image credits: Twitter

Travel Trouble

Eye-watering price tag for "remarkable" first class Titanic menu

A first class dinner menu from the Titanic has been found and sold at an auction in England for £84,000 (around $162,000 AUD) on November 11. The water-stained menu was dated April 11, 1912 just three days before the ship hit an iceberg, ultimately meeting it's ill-fated end causing over 1500 deaths. Wealthy passengers at the time were spoiled with choice, with oysters, salmon, beef, squab (baby pigeon), spring lamb among other dishes on the menu, and that's not including dessert. Auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son said it was unclear how the menu made it off the ship intact, but the slight water damage suggests that it was recovered from the body of a victim. The rare artefact, which is over 111 years old belonged to amateur historian Len Stephenson, from Nova Scotia, Canada, who passed away in 2017. No one knew he had it, including his family, who only discovered it after going through his belongings following his death. “About six months ago his daughter and his son-in-law, Allen, felt the time was right to go through his belongings,” auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said. “As they did they found this menu in an old photo album. “Len was a very well thought-of historian in Nova Scotia which has strong connections with the Titanic. The body recovery ships were from Nova Scotia and so all the victims were taken back there. “Sadly, Len has taken the secret of how he acquired this menu to the grave with him.” Stephenson worked at a post office and would talk to people, collect old pictures and write letters for them, which might be how he got the rare artefact. According to the auctioneer, no other first class dinner menus dated April 11, 1912 have been recovered from the titanic making this “a remarkable survivor from the most famous Ocean liner of all time”. “There are a handful of April 14 menus in existence but you just don’t see menus from April 11. Most of them would have gone down with the ship,” Aldridge said. “Whereas with April 14 menus, passengers would have still had them in their coat and jacket pockets from earlier on that fateful night and still had them when they were taken off the ship," he added. A few other items recovered from the Titanic were also sold, including a Swiss-made pocket watch recovered from passenger Sinai Kantor which fetched £97,000 (around $187,000 AUD). A tartan-patterned deck blanket, which was likely used during the rescue operation also sold for £96,000 (around $185,000). Images: Henry Aldridge & Son of Devizes, Wiltshire

Cruising

Heated argument between economy passengers reignites plane etiquette debate

A 12-second clip of two passengers arguing on a plane has reignited the age-old debate of whether it is acceptable to recline your seat on a plane. The viral video which was originally posted on TikTok and then re-shared on X, has racked up over 8 million views since Thursday. In the video, a frustrated woman was calling out another female passenger for pushing her seat the entire flight, right after they landed. “The whole trip she pushed my seat,” the woman said to a male passenger seated next to the female passenger accused of kicking her seat. “You seen it. You know she did.” “I’m allowed to put my seat back," she yelled repeatedly. Ian Miles Cheong, the user who posted the video on X, defended the woman saying: “She’s allowed to put her seat back. You don’t get to kick it repeatedly just because you want more space.” A few were on the woman's side and praised her for standing up for herself. “You are allowed! Period! You want space in front of you instead of pushing the seat, buy a seat with extra space or get your a** to business class. Reclining was put there for a reason,” one person wrote. “She was patient enough to wait till flight landed," they added. “If the seat is reclinable, recline it,” another commented. "What she’s saying is right. The woman has a right to put her seat back without someone kicking it," a third agreed. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> She’s allowed to put her seat back. You don’t get to kick it repeatedly just because you want more space. <a href="https://t.co/WELD7Qh4Re">pic.twitter.com/WELD7Qh4Re</a> — Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) <a href="https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1719881310351863952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 2, 2023</a></blockquote> However, others claimed that there was an unwritten rule that you shouldn't recline your seat, especially on a short-haul flight, adding that the recline feature should be scrapped from airplanes. “Putting your seat back in coach is an unspoken thing most people don’t do. It’s really the airline’s fault because they’ve made coach so cramped and tight that putting the seat back shouldn’t even be an option,” one commented. “Airline seats simply shouldn’t be able to recline. It intrudes on the already very little space a person has on the plane for the person behind them,” another added. “Really it’s the airline’s fault for cramming so many people in such a small space. They don’t call it cattle class for nothing,” a third wrote. One user understood both sides of the argument, and blamed the airlines for making the seats so cramped. "It can be annoying sometimes to be behind someone with their seat all the way, but if the airlines didn't want to allow that, it wouldn't happen," they wrote. "You don't kick the seat like a baby. Blame the airline, not the person doing what the airline says is fine." Images: Twitter

Travel Trouble

"You've been bumped": Vietnam vet slams Qantas for booting him from business class

Qantas has come under fire for booting a Vietnam war veteran from his paid seat in business class so that a young Qantas "tech" – later revealed to be a pilot – could travel in the luxury seat in his place. Stephen Jones, 78, and his wife were travelling home to Adelaide after a holiday in Christchurch. Their flight was passing through Melbourne on its way to their home in Adelaide, and the pair were enjoying coffee in the Melbourne airport lounge – just 30 minutes before they were set to continue their journey – when they were given the bad news by Qantas staff. "I went up to the desk and the Qantas employee there said, 'I've got some bad news for you, you've been bumped'," Mr Jones told Melbourne’s <a href="https://www.3aw.com.au/vietnam-war-veteran-booted-from-business-class-for-younger-qantas-employee/">3AW</a> radio program with Ross & Russ. "It didn't register at first," continued Mr Jones. "I wasn't quite sure what 'bumped' meant... I said, 'What?', and she said, 'Yes, I'll have to re-issue your ticket for economy class. We have a tech who's flying to Adelaide and his contract states that he must fly Business Class." Mr Jones then explained that while he retreated to his economy seat, the Qantas employee was seated next to his wife up in business class, and that "he wouldn't even look at her". Mr Jones went on to explain that, after filing a letter of complaint, he was offered 5000 Frequent Flyer points in return for the downgrade and an apology. Mr Jones, who served in Vietnam in a combat unit in the 1960s, claimed he turned down the offer of 5000 points, saying, “I don’t think anything is going to change until there’s ramifications for Qantas, or costs for Qantas when they upset their customers.” Justin Lawrence, Partner at Henderson Ball Lawyers, later told the 3AW radio show hosts that there’s little customers can do about such a move by the airline and said it was “standard operating procedure”. “Unfortunately, their terms of carriage allow them to do this sort of thing – this happens so often they’ve actually got a term for it, buckle up, they call this 'involuntary downgrading,'” he said. “They’ll overprescribe business class or first class, they will need to bump someone out, and they’ll do it almost immediately prior to the flight – not just Qantas, they all do it." “Any time you go to a travel agent or online to Qantas to buy a seat, and we think we’re buying a seat in a particular class, there are no guarantees that when that plane takes off, you’ll be sitting in that class.” Mr Jones said he understood that Qantas pilots were entitled to rest comfortably on their way to another flight, but the ordeal was “unsettling and made me a little irritable”. Image credits: Getty Images

Travel Trouble

Qantas slapped with class action lawsuit

Qantas is staring down the barrel of a class action lawsuit, after being accused of prioritising its financial interests over its contractual commitments to customers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The legal action was initiated on Monday August 21 in response to the airline's failure to provide refunds totalling more than a billion dollars to its customers. Echo Law, the plaintiff firm, contends that Qantas deceived customers and essentially held their funds, effectively treating them as interest-free loans. Andrew Paull, a partner at Echo Law, asserts that Qantas acted unlawfully by introducing a flight credit program in response to border closures caused by the pandemic. Instead of promptly refunding customers for cancelled flights, the airline, in numerous instances, retained the funds for an extended period to bolster its financial performance. Paull notes that Qantas' own terms and conditions stipulate refunds when cancellations occur outside their control. He points out that the magnitude of the claim has grown due to Qantas' prolonged inaction in addressing these issues. The class action is not only aiming to secure redress for pending refunds but also seeks compensation for delayed reimbursements. Paull alleges that Qantas has been "unjustly enriched" by withholding money owed to its customers. He equates the interest accrued on these retained funds over the past three years to a substantial sum. This legal action marks the latest episode in a series of challenges faced by Australia's largest airline due to the pandemic's far-reaching repercussions, which severely disrupted its operations. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has expressed concern and pressured the company to simplify the refund process following a surge in customer complaints. Consumer advocates have also criticised Qantas for delays in refunding customers. Choice, a consumer advocacy group, even bestowed a "shonky award" upon Qantas due to reports of customers using credits being required to pay extra. Paull estimates that approximately $400 million in refunds remains outstanding to date. He asserts that Qantas prioritised safeguarding its financial position over honouring its commitments to customers during the pandemic, potentially misleading customers by presenting the travel credits as acts of goodwill rather than a fulfilment of contractual obligations. Responding to the lawsuit, a Qantas spokesperson stated on Monday that the airline had not yet received the lawsuit. The spokesperson categorically rejected the allegations, asserting that Qantas had already processed over $1 billion in refunds arising from COVID-19-related credits for customers impacted by lockdowns and border closures. Moreover, the spokesperson refuted claims that Qantas derived financial gains from delaying refund disbursements, highlighting the substantial revenue loss of $25 billion and $7 billion in losses due to the pandemic. (Qantas has subsequently repaid significant portions of its pandemic debts and recently reported substantial profits after receiving substantial financial support from taxpayers during the pandemic period.) Qantas also dismissed allegations of delayed refund payments to affected customers. The spokesperson emphasised that the airline has consistently communicated the refund process to customers when flights were canceled. However, Paull contends that Qantas has created formidable barriers for customers seeking to exercise their consumer rights, including unfulfilled promises of callbacks and refunds that were granted but never processed.

Legal

Can’t afford a gym membership or fitness class? 3 things to include in a DIY exercise program

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lewis-ingram-1427671">Lewis Ingram</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-south-australia-1180">University of South Australia</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hunter-bennett-1053061">Hunter Bennett</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-south-australia-1180">University of South Australia</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/saravana-kumar-181105">Saravana Kumar</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-south-australia-1180">University of South Australia</a> With the rising cost of living, gyms memberships and fitness classes are becoming increasingly unaffordable. But the good news is you can make <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28655559/">just as much progress at home</a>. Cardiovascular endurance, muscle strength and flexibility are the <a href="https://www.acsm.org/docs/default-source/publications-files/acsms-exercise-testing-prescription.pdf?sfvrsn=111e9306_4">most important</a> components of fitness. And each can be trained with little or no equipment. Let’s look at why – and how – to fit them into your DIY exercise program. <h2>1. Cardiovascular endurance</h2> Cardiovascular endurance exercise (or “cardio”) forces the heart and lungs to increase the supply of oxygen to the working muscles. Heart disease is a <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/the-top-10-causes-of-death">leading cause of death</a> and cardiovascular endurance exercise helps keep the heart healthy. The best thing about cardio is you don’t need any fancy equipment to do it. Walking, jogging and running are great options, as are cycling, skipping rope and swimming. There are two approaches to maximise cardiovascular endurance: <ul> <li> <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8897392/">high-intensity interval training</a> (HIIT) – short bouts of hard exercise (around 80% to 95% of your maximum heart rate) interspersed with lower intensity recovery periods (around 40% to 50% of your maximum heart rate) </li> <li> <a href="http://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26664271/">low-intensity steady-state</a> (LISS) exercise – aerobic activity performed continuously at a low-to-moderate intensity (around 50% to 65% of your maximum heart rate) for an extended duration. </li> </ul> Both are great options. While high-intensity interval training can be more time efficient, low-intensity steady-state training might be more enjoyable and easier to sustain long-term. No matter what you choose, <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/physical-activity">aim for</a> a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity cardiovascular exercise each week. For example, you could try 30 minutes, five days per week of low intensity cardio, or 25 minutes, three days per week of high-intensity activity, or a combination of the two. How do you know if you’re exercising at the right intensity? Smart watches that measure heart rate can help to monitor intensity. Or you can rely on the good old-fashioned <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25536539/">talk test</a>. During low-intensity activity, you should be able to speak in full sentences. Conversely, short phrases (initially) or single words (towards the end) should be all that’s manageable during high-intensity exercise. <h2>2. Muscle strength</h2> Next is muscle strength, which we train through resistance exercise. This is important for bone health, balance and metabolic health, especially as we age and our <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30276173/">muscle mass and strength declines</a>. Aim for two days per week of whole-body resistance exercise performed at a moderate or <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/physical-activity">greater intensity</a>. Try to build two weekly sessions that target the major muscle groups. This could include: <ul> <li>squats – lower to the ground from standing by bending the hips, knees, and ankles while keeping the chest up tall before returning to standing by straightening the hips, knees and ankles</li> </ul> <ul> <li> <a href="https://www.physio-pedia.com/Hip_Hinge">hinges</a> – fold forward at the hips by pushing your bottom back to the wall behind you, keeping your back straight. A slight bend in the knees is fine but aim to keep your shins vertical </li> <li> <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7196742/">push-ups</a> – if a full push-up is too difficult, you can place your hands on a raised surface such as a step or a chair </li> <li> horizontal and vertical pull ups – using something like a portable chin up bar, which you can buy from sports supply stores </li> <li> vertical pushes – pushing an object (or weight) vertically from the top of your chest to an overhead position. </li> </ul> Once you have selected your exercises, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35873210/">perform</a> 2–3 sets of 8–12 repetitions at a moderate to greater intensity, with about 90 seconds rest between each set. As you progress, continue to challenge your muscles by adding an extra set to each exercise, or including dumbbells, changing body position or wearing a backpack with weights. The goal should be to progress slightly each session. However, if you have any underlying health conditions, disabilities, or are unsure how best to do this, see an exercise physiologist or physiotherapist. <h2>3. Flexibility</h2> Improved flexibility can <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3273886/">increase your range of motion</a> and improve your ability to manage daily life. While we don’t know the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3273886/">best means of increasing flexibility</a>, the most basic and readily accessible is static <a href="https://www.topendsports.com/testing/flex.htm">stretching</a>. Here, we lengthen the muscle – for example, the hamstrings, until we feel a “stretching” sensation. Hold that position for 15–30 seconds. While the precise intensity of this stretching sensation <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26347668/">remains elusive</a>, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29506306/">around 5–10 minutes</a> per week per <a href="https://exrx.net/Lists/Directory">muscle group</a>, spread across five days, seems to provide the best results. <h2>How to stick with it?</h2> The best exercise is the one that gets done. So, whatever you choose, make sure you enjoy it. After all, it’s about creating an ongoing commitment to exercise that will deliver long-term health benefits. It’s also important to ensure you’re ready to exercise, especially if you have any underlying health issues, have been previously inactive, or are unsure how to start. A <a href="https://www.ausactive.org.au/apss">pre-exercise screening</a> can help you to determine whether you should see a doctor or allied health professional before starting an exercise program and for guidance on the next steps. <img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206204/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lewis-ingram-1427671">Lewis Ingram</a>, Lecturer in Physiotherapy, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-south-australia-1180">University of South Australia</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hunter-bennett-1053061">Hunter Bennett</a>, Lecturer in Exercise Science, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-south-australia-1180">University of South Australia</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/saravana-kumar-181105">Saravana Kumar</a>, Professor in Allied Health and Health Services Research, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-south-australia-1180">University of South Australia</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/cant-afford-a-gym-membership-or-fitness-class-3-things-to-include-in-a-diy-exercise-program-206204">original article</a>.

Body

How much one man paid to fly First Class forever

One man grabbed the opportunity of a lifetime back in 1990 and is now reaping the benefits of his hard work. 69-year-old Tom Stuker who was a car dealership consultant at that time, paid an eye watering $US510,000 — $A770,000 for United Airlines lifetime pass to passengers. The married father of two described this as “the best investment” he’s made and has taken full advantage of his lavish first class travel perks in seat 1B. Stuker has flown a total of 23 million miles according to the Washington Post, with 2019 being his record year where he flew 373 flights covering 1.46 million miles. If converted to cash, those flights would have cost him $2.44 million. Among the unlimited travel miles, Stuker is also treated like a VIP, with a special check-in station that has a door which takes him straight to the security queue. He also has access to VIP airport lounges with free fine dining, spa treatments, showers and sleeping quarters. In 2011 Stuker hit the 10 million mile mark which prompted the airline to name a 747 after him. In 2019 he hit the 20 million mile mark which he celebrated mid-air with a champagne toast that he shared with other passengers aboard the same flight. Stuker remained humble as he talked with all the other passengers and even topped up their glass of bubbles as they congratulated him on this milestone. “It’s not about the places I go, it’s about the people I meet,” he said to the passengers via the plane's intercom. “I wanted to say thank you to all of you who shared this moment with me,” Stuker continued. “To be able to celebrate 20 million on my favourite airline in the whole world, it’s everything.” Stuker initially found out about the lifetime pass when his colleague told him American Airlines was offering it. He then approached United airlines and said: “ ‘you’re going to lose me as a customer’ and they said ‘we have the same thing’,” he told Chicago-based TV station WGN News. Sadly, for others who want to follow in his footsteps that offer doesn’t exist anymore, but there are still similar passes available, Stuker said. “They came out to my office, they presented it and I did the number crunching and made a really good business decision because that’s what I bought the pass for — to save money on my business travel. “They still have programs that do that, just not the unlimited.” It’s been 33 years and Stuker still spends most of his time flying, unable to stay off a plane for more than a week. He has travelled to over 100 countries using his unlimited United pass and is generous enough to share this experience with his wife, taking her on over 120 “honeymoons”. Image: Instagram

International Travel

“No justification for this ever”: Outrage over one husband’s selfish inflight arrangement

A couple in the United States have landed themselves at the centre of the internet’s attention after the wife made the shocking admission that her husband flies first class when they travel, leaving her behind in economy with their two children. Writing to The New York Times’ ethics column, she wanted to know if she was selfish for thinking their ‘arrangement’ was unfair, noting that while he had offered a compromise of sorts, it did “not really address or solve the problem of the inherent selfishness in his thinking.” As she explained in her message, she and her husband are avid travellers, and he “either pays for, or gets an upgrade into, the first-class cabin”. Even when they travel with their two children - who are 12 and 16 years old - he takes himself off to first class, while they remain in economy. According to her, he justifies it to himself by explaining that it’s “because of the cost”, and that their children “might feel alone” if she were to travel up front with him. “I feel that this is unfair,” she said. “ I don’t think our kids would mind if they were in economy plus and my husband and I sat together in first class. Is that unfair of me to want? “My husband has suggested travelling alone on a different flight ahead of us so that we don’t feel badly about the disparity, but this does not really address or solve the problem of the inherent selfishness in his thinking. Am I wrong?” Kwame Anthony Appiah, the ethicist who responded to her for The New York Times, was of the opinion that “a modern marriage is meant to be a pairing of equals”, with partners treating each other with respect and having equal say in the decision making process. “Your husband has another view,” he said. “He evidently thinks that because he’s the ticket-buyer in the family, his own preferences get priority.” And when the article was shared to social media, people from all over were quick to get in on the discussion, with most leaping to the defence of the wife. “I’d divorce him so fast he’d never get to fly first class again until our kids were grown and through college,” one said. “There is no justification for this ever.” “I'd be calling a divorce lawyer rather than a travel agent,” one agreed. “Wow. And you’re still married to him?! I’d recommend booking your own flights,” came a similar response. Meanwhile, another noted that she “just might be married to a narcissist.” “Oooph BIG YIKES. It’s not about the flight, I’m sure this imbalance trickles into other parts of the relationship,” someone wrote. And as another shared, “recently, my husband was offered the upgrade to first class but declined it because I couldn’t go too. We’ve been married 30 years.” Some, however, took issue with the idea of both parents lounging in first while their children were still left behind, with one noting “she wants to upgrade but still leave the kids in economy? The pair of them sound like terrible parents.” “Frankly, I’m blown away that this mother sees the disparity for herself,” another said, “but is perfectly comfortable experiencing privilege while treating her own children disparately.” Images: Getty

Travel Trouble

Let’s dance! How dance classes can lift your mood and help boost your social life

If your new year’s resolutions include getting healthier, exercising more and lifting your mood, dance might be for you. By dance, we don’t mean watching other people dance on TikTok, as much fun as this can be. We mean taking a dance class, or even better, a few. A growing body of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17482631.2020.1732526">research shows</a> the benefits of dance, regardless of the type (for example, classes or social dancing) or the style (hip hop, ballroom, ballet). Dance boosts our wellbeing as it improves our emotional and physical health, makes us feel less stressed and more socially connected. Here’s what to consider if you think dance might be for you. <h2>The benefits of dance</h2> Dance is <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1077800417745919">an engaging and fun</a> way of exercising, learning and meeting people. A review of the evidence <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17482631.2020.1732526">shows</a> taking part in dance classes or dancing socially improves your health and wellbeing regardless of your age, gender or fitness. Another review focuses more specifically on benefits of dance across the lifespan. It <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2021.1950891">shows</a> dance classes and dancing socially at any age improves participants’ sense of self, confidence and creativity. Researchers have also looked at specific dance programs. One UK-based dance program for young people aged 14 <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14647893.2011.561306">shows</a> one class a week for three months increased students’ fitness level and self-esteem. This was due to a combination of factors including physical exercise, a stimulating learning environment, positive engagement with peers, and creativity. Another community-based program for adults in hospital <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17533015.2020.1725072">shows</a> weekly dance sessions led to positive feelings, enriches social engagement and reduced stress related to being in hospital. If you want to know how much dance is needed to develop some of these positive effects, we have good news for you. A useful hint comes from a <a href="https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-015-2672-7">study</a> that looked exactly at how much creative or arts engagement is needed for good mental health – 100 or more hours a year, or two or more hours a week, in most cases. <h2>Dance is social</h2> But dance is more than physical activity. It is also a community ritual. Humans have <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/223398">always danced</a>. We still do so to mark and celebrate transitory periods in life. Think of how weddings prompt non-dancers to move rhythmically to music. Some cultures dance to celebrate childbirth. Many dance to celebrate religious and cultural holidays. This is what inspired French sociologist <a href="https://iep.utm.edu/emile-durkheim/">Emile Durkheim</a> (1858-1917) to explore how dance affects societies and cultures. Durkheim <a href="https://archive.org/search?query=external-identifier%3A%22urn%3Aoclc%3Arecord%3A689172179%22">saw</a> collective dance as a societal glue – a social practice that cultivates what he called “collective effervescence”, a feeling of dynamism, vitality and community. He observed how dance held cultures together by creating communal feelings that were difficult to cultivate otherwise, for example a feeling of uplifting togetherness or powerful unity. It’s that uplifting feeling you might experience when dancing at a concert and even for a brief moment forgetting yourself while moving in synchrony with the rest of the crowd. Synchronous <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/529447">collective activities</a>, such as dance, provide a pleasurable way to foster social bonding. This is due to feelings Durkheim noticed that we now know as transcendental emotions – such as joy, awe and temporary dissolution of a sense of self (“losing yourself”). These can lead to feeling a part of something bigger than ourselves and help us experience social connectedness. For those of us still experiencing social anxiety or feelings of loneliness due to the COVID pandemic, dance can be a way of (re)building social connections and belonging. Whether you join an online dance program and invite a few friends, go to an in-person dance class, or go to a concert or dance club, dance can give temporary respite from the everyday and help lift your mood. <h2>Keen to try out dance?</h2> Here’s what to consider: <ul> <li> if you have not exercised for a while, start with a program tailored to beginners or the specific fitness level that suits you </li> <li> if you have physical injuries, check in with your GP first </li> <li> if public dance classes are unappealing, consider joining an online dance program, or going to a dance-friendly venue or concert </li> <li> to make the most of social aspect of dance, invite your friends and family to join you </li> <li> social dance classes are a better choice for meeting new people </li> <li> beginner performance dance classes will improve your physical health, dance skills and self-esteem </li> <li> most importantly, remember, it is not so much about how good your dancing is, dance is more about joy, fun and social connectedness. </li> </ul> In the words of one participant in our (yet-to-be published) research on dance and wellbeing, dance for adults is a rare gateway into fun, "there’s so much joy, there’s so much play in dancing. And play isn’t always that easy to access as an adult; and yet, it’s just such a joyful experience. I feel so happy to be able to dance." Images: Getty <em style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, 'system-ui', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji'; font-size: 16px; background-color: #ffffff;">This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/lets-dance-how-dance-classes-can-lift-your-mood-and-help-boost-your-social-life-197692" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Body

How zinc batteries could power the sustainable economy

What might it take to get zinc batteries offsetting some of the demand on lithium-ion? According to a <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.26599/NRE.2022.9120039" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">review</a> in Nano Research Energy, a few avenues of research look set to make rechargeable zinc batteries efficient and long-lasting enough to be competitive. If you want to store electricity, lithium-ion batteries are <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/physics/long-live-the-power-of-lithium/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">generally the most powerful</a> and <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/precious-metal/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">energy dense option</a>. But lithium isn’t a <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/materials/lithium-ion-battery-supply-chain-australia/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">super-abundant metal</a>, and it’s very reactive: lithium-ion batteries need <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/battery-fire-lithium-ion/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">elaborate safety systems</a> to lower the risk of fires. As battery demand soars, to shore up the <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/energy-crisis-escape-transition/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">transition to renewable energy</a>, researchers are looking for alternatives to lithium. “Zinc has a strong battery track record, having been used as anode material as early as 1799!” says co-author Dapeng Liu, a battery researcher with the Key Laboratory of Bio-inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology at Beihang University, China. “Zinc-based battery technology already accounts for one-third of the world battery market.” Zinc can be used in a range of different types of battery – including <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/new-charge-for-old-battery/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">zinc-air batteries</a>, which are currently available as small disposables, rechargeable <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/flow-battery-china/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">flow batteries</a>, or rechargeable non-flow zinc-bromide batteries. Zinc-based batteries are typically cheaper than lithium-ion, and carry a much lower fire risk. But while their performance has much improved over the past decade, they’re still not good for commercial rechargeable batteries yet. They’re not very energy-dense, and they have shorter life cycles. According to the researchers, there are a few areas of chemistry that should be focused on to improve this. First, say the reviewers, the anodes and cathodes of zinc batteries need to be developed so that they don’t deplete as much over time. They think that changing the surface of the anodes (interface modification), and alloying the zinc with other materials and additives, will yield the best results. Next, better <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/next-big-thing-catalysts-can-change-the-world/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">catalysts</a> are needed to speed up zinc-air batteries’ reactions, making them more efficient. Finally, the researchers suggest that new electrolyte mixtures can improve battery performance. “Rechargeable zinc-based batteries have a long way to go before large-scale application in the mobile, power, and other electronic equipment markets,” conclude the researchers in their paper. A zinc-bromide battery factory opened in Australia in late September. Operated by <a href="https://gelion.com/gelion-launches-australian-battery-manufacturing-facility/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Gelion</a>, a renewable energy company that spun out from research at the University of Sydney, the facility is currently capable of making two megawatt hours of batteries per year. <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=227531&title=How+zinc+batteries+could+power+the+sustainable+economy" width="1" height="1" data-spai-target="src" data-spai-orig="" data-spai-exclude="nocdn" /> <div id="contributors"> <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/zinc-batteries-improvements-needed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on Cosmos Magazine and was written by Ellen Phiddian. Image: Getty Images </div>

Technology

Fighting inflation doesn’t directly cause unemployment – but that’s still the most likely outcome

You may have seen the news: in its attempts to tackle inflation, the Reserve Bank is going to increase unemployment. The idea can even seem to come right from the mouths of experts, including the bank’s governor, Adrian Orr. <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/adrian-orr-beating-inflation-will-mean-higher-unemployment/WO3WLQQUGWEC5NVK3AQTR2BN5A/">Speaking recently</a> to an industry conference, he said: <blockquote> Returning to low inflation will, in the near term, constrain employment growth and lead to a rise in unemployment. </blockquote> Similar sentiments have been expressed by <a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/opinion/inflation-taming-the-costs-are-becoming-more-visible">independent economists</a> and <a href="https://thespinoff.co.nz/business/31-10-2022/the-big-banks-just-cant-stop-winning">commentators</a>. But is it as simple as it might appear? What is the relationship between inflation and unemployment, and is it inevitable that reducing one will lead to an increase in the other? <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Unemployment rate holds steady at 3.3%, wages rise strongly - Stats NZ <a href="https://t.co/IQOPBaNYTn">https://t.co/IQOPBaNYTn</a> — RNZ News (@rnz_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/rnz_news/status/1587568087808999424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 1, 2022</a></blockquote> Historic highs and lows Like other developed countries, New Zealand has been going through a period of historically high inflation. The latest figures, for the September quarter of 2022, show an annual <a href="https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/annual-inflation-at-7-2-percent/">rise of 7.2%</a>, only slightly lower than the 7.3% recorded for the June quarter. Inflation is the highest it has been since 1990. The story is similar across the OECD, where inflation averages <a href="https://www.oecd.org/economy/consumer-prices-oecd-updated-4-october-2022.htm">10.3%</a>, including <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/consumerpriceinflation/september2022">8.8%</a> in the UK and <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm">8.2%</a> in the US. At the same time, New Zealand is experiencing a period of very low unemployment, with a <a href="https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/unemployment-rate-at-3-3-percent">rate of just 3.3%</a> for September 2022, following 3.2% in the June quarter. These are near-record lows, and the rate has not been below 4% since mid-2008. So, right now New Zealand is in a period of historically low unemployment and historically high inflation. At first glance, that might suggest that in order to return to low inflation, we may inevitably experience higher unemployment. The Phillips Curve The idea that inflation and unemployment have a negative relationship (when one increases, the other decreases, and vice versa) dates back to work by New Zealand’s most celebrated economist, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Phillips_(economist)">A.W. (Bill) Phillips</a>. While working at the London School of Economics in the 1950s, Phillips wrote a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1468-0335.1958.tb00003.x">famous paper</a> that used UK data from 1861 to 1957 and showed a negative relationship between unemployment and wage increases. Subsequent work by economics Nobel Prize winners <a href="https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Samuelson.html">Paul Samuelson</a> and <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1987/solow/facts/">Robert Solow</a> extended Phillips’ work to show a negative relationship between price inflation and unemployment. We now refer to this relationship as the “Phillips Curve”. However, even though this relationship between inflation and unemployment has been demonstrated with various data sources, and for various time periods for different countries, it is not a causal relationship. Lower inflation doesn’t by itself cause higher unemployment, even though they are related. To see why, it’s worth thinking about the mechanism that leads to the observed relationship. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LISTEN?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LISTEN</a> 🔊 The Finance Minister says addressing inflation without increasing unemployment is a difficult balancing act. 📎 <a href="https://t.co/CfaopcqjGv">https://t.co/CfaopcqjGv</a> <a href="https://t.co/1gMNat2G99">pic.twitter.com/1gMNat2G99</a> — Morning Report (@NZMorningReport) <a href="https://twitter.com/NZMorningReport/status/1587893034351411200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 2, 2022</a></blockquote> Collateral damage If the Reserve Bank raises the official cash rate, commercial banks follow by raising their interest rates. That makes borrowing more expensive. Higher interest rates mean banks will lend less money. With less money chasing goods and services in the economy, inflation will start to fall. Of course, this is what the Reserve Bank wants when it raises the cash rate. Its <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/library-research-papers/research-papers/monetary-policy-and-the-policy-targets-agreement/">Policy Targets Agreement</a> with the government states that inflation must be kept between 1% and 3%. So when inflation is predicted to be higher, the bank acts to lower it. At the same time, higher interest rates increase mortgage payments, leaving households and consumers with less discretionary income, and so consumer spending falls. Along with reduced business spending, this reduces the amount of economic activity. Businesses therefore need fewer workers, and so employment falls. So, while the Reserve Bank raises interest rates to combat inflation, those higher interest rates also slow down the economy and increase unemployment. Higher unemployment is essentially collateral damage arising from reducing inflation. Great expectations That’s not the end of the story, though. After its 1960s heyday, the Phillips Curve was criticised by economists on theoretical grounds, and for its inability to explain the “stagflation” (high unemployment and high inflation) experienced in the 1970s. For example, <a href="https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Friedman.html">Milton Friedman</a> argued there is actually no trade-off between inflation and unemployment, because workers and businesses take inflation into account when negotiating employment contracts. Workers’ and employers’ expectations about future inflation is key. Friedman argued that, because inflation is expected, workers will have already built it into their wage demands, and businesses won’t change the amount of workers they employ. Friedman’s argument would suggest that, aside from some short-term deviations, the economy will typically snap back to a “natural” rate of unemployment, with an inflation rate that only reflects workers’ and businesses’ expectations. Symptom or cause? Can we rely on this mechanism to avoid higher unemployment as the Reserve Bank increases interest rates to combat inflation? It seems unlikely. Workers would first have to expect the Reserve Bank’s actions will lower inflation, and respond by asking for smaller wage increases. Right now, however, consumer inflation expectations <a href="https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/statistics/series/households/household-inflation-expectations">remain high</a> and wage growth is at <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/latest-job-numbers-out-unemployment-flatlining-near-record-lows/O4NDE3Y4W5GMHGDRDDS733LX7A/">record levels</a>. So, we can probably expect unemployment to move upwards as the Reserve Bank’s inflation battle continues. Not because lower inflation causes higher unemployment, but because worker and consumer expectations take time to reflect the likelihood of lower future inflation due to the Reserve Bank’s actions. And since workers negotiate only infrequently with employers, there is an inevitable lag between inflation expectations changing and this being reflected in wages. Alas, for ordinary households, there is no quick and easy way out of this situation. Writen by Michael P. Cameron. Republished with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/fighting-inflation-doesnt-directly-cause-unemployment-but-thats-still-the-most-likely-outcome-193617" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. Image: Getty Images<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193617/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />

Money & Banking

“I am not a villain”: Woman refuses to switch plane seats for a family

A woman from the US has defended her decision to not move from her first class plane seat so a family could sit together. In a series of now-viral videos, Maresa Friedman detailed her awkward experience on a recent Delta airlines flight, in which she was asked to move to a different seat. Maresa said a family of three wanted her to move from her allocated seat so they could all sit closer together. After specifically booking her chosen seat in first class, Maresa politely declined their request. "I am not a villain for not moving from the seat in first class I paid full fare for," Friedman, a mother-of-two, captured her clip on TikTok. "I am also a mum so it's called PLANNING AHEAD." In a series of follow up videos, the frequent traveller said it wasn’t fair to be expected to move just so the family could sit together, especially when they hadn’t planned their seats ahead of time. She also suggested the family should’ve moved to economy class if they all wanted to sit in the same row. "If the airline bumps you or moves you or whatever, totally fair, so the suggestion I gave was basically like, ‘Oh if all of you want to sit in together, in a row, since first class is two seats and two seats, I'm sure you could ask the people behind you, I think they would be super pumped to sit [in first class] so that the three of you could be together'," Friedman said. "To which, of course, I just got 'the look'. The flight attendant just looked at me like… 'That was a good suggestion'." Friedman said the family shot her "side eyes" and "death stares" for the duration of the flight because of her refusal to move. "It didn't stop this mom from [giving me] side eye, I was getting looked at, she was talking about me," she added. "If you book with the airline, because this has happened to us as a family of four who travels together, they will group your reservation together. So, the only time that you might be separated is if you miss a flight or a connection." She then offered a piece of advice to fellow travellers who insist on asking people to switch seats: purchase travel insurance. "Things like travel insurance will not only prevent problems like this, you can actually use travel insurance to file claims to get many back or rebook on another carrier," she added. "So again, all preventable." After sharing her series of videos, Maresa was flooded with comments from people who claimed she was being unfair, to which she doubled down on her position by claiming it’s not her responsibility to “accommodate '' other travellers. "Before you come for me, I have two kids, so I have been there, even in the early stages and I would buy my baby a seat next to me, but when you book with the airlines, you have to tell them to book your reservations together and that you're travelling with a minor," she continued. Friedman added, "And by the way, the few times that I did switch seats in my lifetime, it was horrific, never again." Image credits: TikTok

Travel Tips

Loretta Lynn was more than a great songwriter – she was a spokeswoman for white rural working-class women

Loretta Lynn’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/04/arts/music/loretta-lynn-dead.html">death at the age of 90</a> marks the end of a remarkable life of achievement in country music. Her dramatic life story – retold in the 1980 award-winning film “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080549/">Coal Miner’s Daughter</a>,” based on <a href="https://www.grandcentralpublishing.com/titles/loretta-lynn/coal-miners-daughter/9781538701690/">Lynn’s 1976 biography</a> – made Lynn a household name. She grew up in poverty in a small Kentucky mining town, marrying and starting a family as a teenager before reaching unprecedented heights of commercial success as a recording artist of modern country music. But as a <a href="https://arts-sciences.buffalo.edu/music/faculty/faculty-directory.host.html/content/shared/arts-sciences/music/new-faculty-profiles/vander-wel-stephanie.html">scholar of gender and country music</a> and author of “<a href="https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p084959">Hillbilly Maidens, Okies, and Cowgirls: Women’s Country Music, 1930-1960</a>,” I know that Lynn represented more than just star power and fame in country music – she spoke to the concerns of women, especially white working-class women in rural and suburban America. <h2>Speaking up, singing out</h2> Lynn’s rise in the 1960s took place when country music appeared tied to conservative politics. It was a time when Merle Haggard’s “<a href="https://academic.oup.com/california-scholarship-online/book/28551/chapter-abstract/238414028?redirectedFrom=fulltext">Okie from Muskogee</a>,” with its attacks on counterculture, marijuana and draft-card burning, became a populist anthem for the country’s cultural conservatives. In contrast, Lynn’s songwriting continued the legacy of <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-kitty-wells-20120717-story.html">Kitty Wells</a>, <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2016/09/25/country-music-hall-famer-jean-shepard-dead-82/76568704/">Jean Shepard</a> and other women in country music who were willing to speak up about the concerns of American women. Lynn’s songs defied societal expectations by connecting her musical representations of working-class and rural women to broader social issues affecting women across the U.S. She aimed for her music to articulate the fears, dreams and anger of women living in a patriarchal society. It railed against those who idealized women’s domestic roles and demonized outspoken feminists. <h2>‘There’s gonna be some changes’</h2> Specifically, for a generation of predominantly white women in the 1960s and 1970s who did not identify as urban or college-educated feminists, Lynn’s music offered candid conversations about their private lives as wives and mothers. As Lynn <a href="https://www.grandcentralpublishing.com/titles/loretta-lynn/coal-miners-daughter/9781538701690/">stated in her autobiography</a>, her audience recognized her as a “mother and a wife and a daughter, who had feelings just like other women.” She did this through clever and witty songwriting and lyrical techniques that combined the vernacular of her audience with her resonant voice. Meanwhile, the song arrangements of Owen Bradley of Decca Records directed Lynn’s musical talents to a broad audience. He combined the edgier sound of honky-tonk instrumentation – electric guitars, pedal steels and fiddles – with the polish of the Nashville sound by including the smooth sounding vocal harmonies of the vocal quartet the <a href="http://www.jordanaires.net/">Jordanaires</a>, as heard in numerous country, gospel and rock ‘n’ roll recordings. This provided a sound of strength and conviction to accompany Lynn’s bold and forthright songs as she laid bare the double standards of gender roles. With her assertive and resonant voice, Lynn, in her 1966 track “<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/loretta-lynn-best-lyrics-songwriting-175002/">Don’t Come Home A Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind)</a>,” warns men not to expect women to be waiting at home, sexually available for them after they’d spent the night drinking: <blockquote> Well, you thought I’d be waitin’ up when you came home last night You’d been out with all the boys and you ended up half tight Liquor and love, they just don’t mix Leave that bottle or me behind And don’t come home a drinkin’ with lovin’ on your mind </blockquote> In a similar vein, Lynn, who <a href="https://www.grandcentralpublishing.com/titles/loretta-lynn/coal-miners-daughter/9781538701690/">claimed that her songs about wayward husbands</a> were inspired by her fraught marriage to Oliver “Doolittle” Lynn, confronted the “other woman” in songs such as 1966’s “You Ain’t Woman Enough” and 1968’s “Fist City.” <h2>A lasting legacy</h2> Fully aware that her personalized accounts became political messages for her fan base of women, Lynn co-wrote and recorded “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/10/04/loretta-lynn-the-pill/">The Pill</a>” in 1975. It was a rare foray into the topic of women’s reproductive rights for country music. In typical fashion, though, Lynn approached the issue from the perspective of a rural working-class woman: <blockquote> I’m tired of all your crowin’ How you and your hens play While holdin’ a couple in my arms Another’s on the way This chicken’s done tore up her nest And I’m ready to make a deal And ya can’t afford to turn it down ‘Cause you know I’ve got the pill </blockquote> The song’s sexual innuendos about cavorting roosters and hens incorporated the double entendres and humor of early blues and country, while providing a frank discussion about female sexual pleasure. It also addressed the right for women to take control over their bodies and reproduction. The song came out just two years after <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/410/113/">the Supreme Court passed Roe v. Wade</a>, granting women the ability to govern their own reproductive health through abortion. Indeed, Lynn commented on the Supreme Court’s ruling in her autobiography “Personally, I think you should prevent unwanted pregnancy rather than get an abortion. It would be wrong for me. But I’m thinking of all the poor girls who get pregnant when they don’t want to be, and how they should have a choice instead of leaving it up to some politician or doctor who don’t have to raise the baby.” Her recording “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/10/04/loretta-lynn-the-pill/">The Pill</a>” spoke to married women who wanted to be able to space out their children and prevent unwanted pregnancies so that they could pursue educational and professional opportunities. In interviews, Lynn discussed at length how female listeners flocked to her after concerts, relieved to find a public figure with whom they felt comfortable to discuss birth control. Not everyone was thrilled, though. Male country <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/after-country-stations-banned-loretta-lynns-the-pill-it-became-her-biggest-pop-hit">disc jockeys banned</a> “The Pill” from the airwaves. Nonetheless, the recording became her biggest seller in 1975 and furthered Lynn’s reputation as a spokeswoman for white rural working-class women. Her music also inspired the women in country music who followed her to further explore issues of gender roles. Lynn’s legacy lives on in the music of female country artists – such as <a href="https://www.reba.com/">Reba McEntire</a> and <a href="https://www.mirandalambert.com/">Miranda Lambert</a> – who learned from Lynn how to create music that confronts and triumphs over the societal obstacles that women face. While all of country music will mourn the death of Lynn, it is perhaps her female fans who will feel the loss more acutely. Lynn gave them a social and political voice, and helped make country music a genre relevant to the complexities of women’s lives. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/loretta-lynn-was-more-than-a-great-songwriter-she-was-a-spokeswoman-for-white-rural-working-class-women-191932" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Music

“Kia Ora NZ!”: First cruise ship returns to New Zealand

After more than two years, the first cruise ship has returned to New Zealand’s shores, sailing into Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour on Friday. The P&O Cruises flagship Pacific Explorer, decked out with a banner reading, “Kia ora NZ”, was carrying passengers on a 12-night round-trip cruise from Sydney to New Zealand and Fiji, who were greeted with a traditional Māori welcome before heading ashore for locally-run tours. Multiple Kiwi businesses welcomed the return of cruising to New Zealand and hope it will bring a boost to the local economy and their business. David Lee, who owns five eateries in the shopping and hospitality precinct in Auckland City, said the return of cruising has brought him hope after the lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc when he opened in March 2020. “Without tourists, it was really hard to keep our restaurants afloat,” he said in a statement. “Our projected revenue amounted to less than half of what it should have been - we hung on by the skin of our teeth. “The return of cruise ships and the tourists they bring has given me hope for our business. I can’t wait to see the city abuzz with tourists and energy again.” Clinton Farley, the general manager of The Hotel Britomart, a boutique hotel in downtown Auckland, said the return of tourists through cruising isn’t just welcome financially, but also from a community aspect. “Along with our industry peers, we are extremely excited to see the maritime border reopening and tourists returning – they are such an important part of the fabric within our community,” Mr Farley said. “Tourists are crucial not just to the hotel but also to the wider Britomart precinct and the New Zealand economy. The return of cruise is a big part of our reopening to the world, and we are thrilled to see downtown Auckland coming back to life.” P&O Cruises Australia and Carnival Australia president Marguerite Fitzgerald thanked the Ardern government for enabling the cruising industry to return following the pandemic, “Pacific Explorer’s arrival in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland today is a signal that cruise tourism is poised to make a significant contribution to the restoration of the tourism economy,” Ms Fitzgerald said. “We are looking forward to our ships also being able to return to beautiful destinations in New Caledonia and Vanuatu and to the progressive return to New Zealand ports of ships from our other cruise lines as the tourism sector continues to rebuild.” Ms Fitzgerald added that they were already planning for the Pacific Explorer to return to Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, in 2023 for the ship’s first home-ported cruise in three years. “This is an exciting day for P&O and an exciting day for cruising and we thank New Zealand for today’s warm welcome,” she said. Image: P&O Cruises (Supplied)

Cruising

New discovery reveals last moments of Pompeii’s middle class

A series of new finds in Pompeii’s archaeological park have shed light on the final moments of middle class Romans before they were buried beneath volcanic ash and debris from Mount Vesuvius. Plates, glasses, vases, amphorae and terracotta objects left behind in chests and cabinets have been recovered from four rooms in a house that was first excavated in 2018. Gabriel Zuchtriegal, the director of the popular Italian tourist destination, said the discovery revealed precious details about the ordinary citizens of the city. “In the Roman Empire there was a significant proportion of the population which fought for their social status and for whom the ‘daily bread’ was anything but taken for granted. It was a social class that was vulnerable during political crises and famines, but also ambitious to climb the social ladder,” Dr Zuchtriegal <a href="http://pompeiisites.org/en/comunicati/the-discovery-of-furnishings-from-the-house-of-the-lararium-in-regio-v-a-snapshot-of-middle-class-pompeii/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">explained</a>. “In the House of the Lararium at Pompeii, the owner was able to embellish the courtyard with the lararium and the basin for the cistern with exceptional paintings, yet evidently funds were insufficient to decorate the five rooms of the house, one of which was used for storage. “In the other rooms, two on the upper floor which could be reached by a mezzanine, we have discovered an array of objects, some of which are made of precious materials such as bronze and glass, while others were for everyday use. The wooden furniture, of which it has been possible to make casts, was extremely simple. “We do not know who the inhabitants of the house were, but certainly the culture of otium (leisure) which inspired the wonderful decoration of the courtyard represented for them more a future they dreamed of than a lived reality.” In the rooms on the lower floor of the house, all of the furnishings were able to be recovered by creating casts of the furniture. One bedroom even contained the remains of a bed frame and trace fabric from the pillow, similar to three cot-like beds unearthed last year in another Pompeiian home believed to be slaves’ quarters. Next to the bed, archaeologists found a bipartite wooden chest that was left open when the owners fled. Although heavily damaged by beams that crashed onto it during the eruption, it still held an oil lamp decorated with a relief of the Greek god Zeus being transformed into an eagle. A small, three-legged table was found next to the trunk, with a ceramic cup containing glass ampules, and two small plates sitting on top. In the storeroom, they found a wooden cupboard with its backboard still intact and the shelves caved in. Many of the items from the upper floor were found in the rooms below, including everyday items such as ceramic vessels, two bronze jugs, a bronze bowl with a beaded base, and an incense burner in the shape of a cradle. One of the unique and most interesting finds was a small cast of waxed tablets, made up of seven triptychs (carvings with three panels) that have been tied together by a small cord. Images: Parco Archeologico di Pompei

International Travel

A heated steering wheel for $20 a month? What’s driving the subscriptions economy

From gym memberships to music and movies, to razors, toilet paper, meal kits and clothes, there’s seemingly no place the subscription economy can’t go. Having conquered the software market – where it gets its own acronym, SaaS (Software as a Service) – the subscription model is now moving into hardware. Car makers are among the first cabs off the rank, using software to turn on and off optional extras. German auto maker BMW is offering “<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/12/23204950/bmw-subscriptions-microtransactions-heated-seats-feature" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in-car microtransactions</a>” to access options for car buyers in Britain, Korea, Germany, New Zealand and South Africa. A heated steering wheel, for example, has a monthly cost of NZ$20 in New Zealand, and £10 in the UK. Other markets <a href="https://www.drive.com.au/news/bmw-australia-monthly-subscriptions-detailed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">including Australia</a> will soon follow. In the UK, seven of 13 “digital services” – from heated seats to automatic high beam and driving assistance – are now available in subscription form. “Welcome to microtransaction hell” is how <a href="https://www.pcgamer.com/welcome-to-microtransaction-hell-buy-a-bmw-pay-monthly-for-the-cars-features/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one headline</a> put it. But that’s probably overselling the onset of a corporate dystopia where “you will own nothing”. BMW’s motives are pretty straightforward – as is most of what’s driving the subscription economy. What is the subscription model? The subscription model means paying a fee for periodical access to a service or product. Until a decade or so ago, it was largely confined to a few select industries, such as the delivery of milk, newspapers and magazines. <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474494/original/file-20220718-68552-hvzp5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474494/original/file-20220718-68552-hvzp5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474494/original/file-20220718-68552-hvzp5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474494/original/file-20220718-68552-hvzp5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474494/original/file-20220718-68552-hvzp5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474494/original/file-20220718-68552-hvzp5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474494/original/file-20220718-68552-hvzp5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="From milk and magazines, subscription services have proliferated with digital technology." /><figcaption>From milk and magazines, subscription services have proliferated with digital technology. Shutterstock</figcaption></figure> Other business models had similarities – such as rental businesses – but the point of the subscription model was different. It was not about meeting a demand for a service someone only wanted to use temporarily or could not afford to own outright. It was about locking in a continuing relationship, to maximise “customer lifetime value”. As <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/042715/how-do-subscription-business-models-work.asp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Investopedia puts it</a>, the subscription model’s focus is on customer retention over customer acquisition: <blockquote> In essence, subscription business models focus on the way revenue is made so that a single customer pays multiple payments for prolonged access to a good or service instead of a large upfront one-time price. </blockquote> This in large part explains why subscription services are now being adopted in markets outside their more obvious fit for things such as streaming news and entertainment. In a broad sense, consumers can now be divided into two groups. One group comprises the “transactional shopper”, who interacts with the vendor once or twice, then disappears. The other group comprises customers whose connection and “investment” in the brand is maintained through their subscriptions. <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474211/original/file-20220715-24-eopgdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474211/original/file-20220715-24-eopgdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474211/original/file-20220715-24-eopgdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474211/original/file-20220715-24-eopgdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474211/original/file-20220715-24-eopgdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474211/original/file-20220715-24-eopgdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474211/original/file-20220715-24-eopgdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="The subscriptions model emphasises customer retention over customer acquisition." /><figcaption>The subscriptions model emphasises customer retention over customer acquisition. Shutterstock</figcaption></figure> E-commerce and access Part of the growth in the subscription economy has come from companies riding the e-commerce wave, delivering goods such as meal kits, wine, coffee, baby supplies, pet food, cleaning products, razors and toilet paper. Consultant firm McKinsey has estimated the subscription e-commerce market is <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/technology-media-and-telecommunications/our-insights/thinking-inside-the-subscription-box-new-research-on-ecommerce-consumers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doubling in value</a> every year – though that was before the pandemic. It could be well be more now. The other part of the market is represented by BMW’s approach, offering extra features to customers that can only be accessed for a fee. In some cases this may involve standard “upsell” techniques. For example, when you buy a new Peloton exercise bike you’ll be enticed with <a href="https://www.onepeloton.com.au/membership" target="_blank" rel="noopener">subscription offers</a>, such as virtual classes and “customised” training programs, to “reach your goals”. Or increasingly, as with BMW’s heated seats and steering wheels, it can be done with software turning actual bits of hardware on or off. What is BMW’s game? Is BMW’s purpose to gouge its customers for more money through getting them to pay an ongoing fee for something instead of owning it outright? This is not what its subscription structure indicates. The opposite, in fact. Customers can still buy these options outright. A heated steering wheel in the UK, for example, costs <a href="https://www.bmw.co.uk/en/shop/ls/dp/Steering_Wheel_Heating_SFA_gb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">£200</a>, and in New Zealand <a href="https://www.bmw.co.nz/en/shop/ls/dp/Steering_Wheel_Heating_SFA_nz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NZ$350</a>. But now they can also pay a subscription – for three years (£150, NZ$250), annually (£100, NZ$250) or monthly (£10, NZ$20). These prices represent a strong signal – that the cost of outright ownership is the most economical. It’s unlikely BMW expects anyone to sign up for the annual or three-yearly options. These are probably just to make the outright cost look more attractive. The monthly offering, on the other hand, may lure owners to try out a feature they would otherwise have rejected buying outright at the time of purchase. Indeed, car makers argue the reason they offer so many options as extras is because most owners don’t want them. So this mostly looks like BMW offering a “try before you buy” option. The pitfalls of over-subscribing That said, companies don’t need to have sinister motives for us to have concerns about the spread of the subscription model. The more things we pay for with “micro-payments”, the harder it becomes to keep track of payments. Many of us continue to pay for products and services we don’t use. A survey of 1,000 Australian adults in 2021, for example, found about a third wasted money on unused subscriptions or memberships – losing an average of about <a href="https://www.savings.com.au/savings-accounts/unused-lockdown-subscriptions-are-costing-aussies-200-a-year" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A$200 a year</a>. Deep psychological associations can influence these decisions. Experiments by US marketing professors Jennifer Savary and Ravi Dhar suggests people with lower “<a href="https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/46/5/887/5498871" target="_blank" rel="noopener">self-concept</a>” are less likely to sign up for subscriptions – but also less likely to cancel subscriptions they are not using. We may see the subscription model increasingly used in other sectors – including the health and justice systems. For example, a subscription payment may provide a better level of nutritious food for a resident in an aged care facility, or a hospital or even a prison. This is not dissimilar to the way private health insurance premiums are managed, but still presents important justice and equity concerns. So while there’s no reason to exaggerate the dangers of the subscription economy, it’s also prudent for consumers, advocacy groups and governments to ask “What next?”.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186913/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/louise-grimmer-212082" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Louise Grimmer</a>, Senior Lecturer in Retail Marketing and Associate Head Research Performance, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Tasmania</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-heated-steering-wheel-for-20-a-month-whats-driving-the-subscriptions-economy-186913" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>. Image: Getty Images

Money & Banking

Business class traveller “shocked” at meal

A traveller flying business class has slammed the on-flight meal he received which left him “shocked”. The passenger was flying back to Korea from Hawaii on a Korean Air flight and had ordered a steak dish for the trip. A flight attendant arrived and placed the steak with a side of gravy, potatoes and vegetables on his table. The man shared a photo of the meal, comparing the steak to the size of his credit card. "This is a business class steak meal. Looking back at it again, I'm still shocked," the man wrote. He also revealed that no passengers were offered any blankets or alcoholic drinks during the flight. Despite this, he still commended the efforts of the flight attendants who did their best to ensure everything ran smoothly. "I don't want any misunderstandings as the service of the flight attendants was still the best," he wrote. A Korean Air spokesperson addressed several issues in a statement, saying the staff and service shortages were due to Covid. "On some overseas routes, it is inevitable that the supply of in-flight meals will be limited only on flights departing from foreign destinations due to local quarantine policies such as border closures due to COVID-19," the statement read. Image: Naver Cafe

Travel Trouble

Want to cut your chance of catching COVID on a plane? Wear a mask and avoid business class

A Florida court recently <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-19/florida-judge-voids-us-mask-mandate-for-planes-other-travel/100998116">overturned mask mandates</a> on planes in the United States, saying the directive was unlawful. That decision is now <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/covid19-masks-on-us-flights-justice-department-appeals-easing-of-rules/a960d39c-dff4-4198-935c-c5b5c5b40551">under appeal</a>. Before that, Australian comedian Celeste Barber <a href="https://twitter.com/djokaymegamixer/status/1514836909620572162">told her social media followers</a> a passenger sitting next to her on a recent flight took off her mask to sneeze. So wearing masks on planes to limit the spread of COVID is clearly a hot-button issue. As we return to the skies more than two years into the pandemic, what is the risk of catching COVID on a plane? And does it really matter where on the plane you are? <h2>So many variables</h2> It’s impossible to give a precise answer about your risk of catching COVID on a plane as there are so many variables. For instance, not all countries and <a href="https://twitter.com/British_Airways/status/1503729049050353665">airlines</a> require passengers to wear masks or <a href="https://www.nationalworld.com/lifestyle/travel/where-can-i-travel-without-a-vaccine-countries-that-allow-unvaccinated-passengers-and-entry-requirements-3528913">be vaccinated</a>. Some countries and airlines require a negative COVID test within a certain timeframe before flying, others have <a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/covid19/vaccinated-travellers/temporary-visa-holders/leaving-australia">scrapped that requirement</a> entirely. Then there are different rules that may apply if you’re flying domestically or internationally, or <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/health-alerts/covid-19/international-travel/proof-of-vaccination">leaving or entering</a> a country. That’s before we start talking about the virus itself. We know more recent variants have emerged (Omicron and the sub-variant BA.2, for example), that are <a href="https://aci.health.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/critical-intelligence-unit/sars-cov-2-variants">much more easily transmitted</a> than the original virus or the Delta variant. We don’t know how transmissible future variants or sub-variants will be. So we can only talk in general terms about the risk of catching COVID on a plane. All up, your risk <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1477893921001745">is very low</a>, but the measures airlines put in place help achieve that. You can also reduce your personal risk further in a number of ways. <h2>Air flow and HEPA filters</h2> Air flow is designed to largely <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1477893920304117">travel vertically</a>, from the ceiling to the floor, to reduce the potential spread of contaminated air through the plane. The height of the seats acts as a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8013760/">partial barrier</a> to air movement from rows in front and behind you. Cabin air is also replaced <a href="https://cdn1.sph.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2443/2020/10/HSPH-APHI-Phase-One-Report.pdf">every two to three minutes</a> with a half-half mix of recycled and fresh air. To see <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7588538/">how this works in real life</a>, researchers looked at how the virus spread on a long-haul flight when an infected person (the index case) sat in business class. Twelve of 16 people who were infected on the plane sat within a few rows of this person; another was a flight attendant. This suggests limited spread of contaminated air through the rest of the plane. Recycled air is also filtered through high-efficiency particulate air (or HEPA) filters. These remove <a href="https://cdn1.sph.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2443/2020/10/HSPH-APHI-Phase-One-Report.pdf">more than 99%</a> of viral particles, further reducing the risk of droplet or airborne transmission. <h2>Masks</h2> Well fitted masks or respirators (worn properly) can reduce your risk of contracting COVID on a flight. That’s why many airlines say wearing a mask is a condition of flying. For example, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ina.12979">modelling</a> of several known transmission events on planes demonstrates an advantage if both the infected person and others around them wear masks. <h2>Vaccination</h2> Some countries, such as Australia, require entering travellers to be <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/health-alerts/covid-19/international-travel/proof-of-vaccination">fully vaccinated</a>. This <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(21)00648-4/fulltext">lowers the risk</a> of someone becoming sick with COVID. <h2>Pre-flight COVID testing</h2> Not all flights require a negative COVID test before boarding. For those that do, the time frame before a flight varies, as does the type of test required. However, we know tests do not detect every single COVID case. A range of factors can influence test sensitivity (ability to detect COVID). These include the type and <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/covid-19-rapid-antigen-self-tests-are-approved-australia">brand</a> of test you take, whether you have <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8761676/">symptoms</a>, your <a href="https://ebm.bmj.com/content/early/2022/01/04/bmjebm-2021-111828">age</a>, and the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8761676/">viral variant</a>. You can also still test negative two days before a flight and catch COVID in the meantime. <h2>Sanitisation</h2> Airlines may do additional cleaning of high-touch areas, and overnight disinfection, to reduce the spread of COVID through touching contaminated surfaces. However, the risk of transmission by this route is <a href="https://cdn1.sph.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2443/2020/10/HSPH-APHI-Phase-One-Report.pdf">low</a> compared to the risk of catching COVID through breathing in infectious droplets and aerosols. <h2>When and where are you most at risk?</h2> The closer you are to the infected person Most transmission occurs within <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1477893920304117">two to three rows</a> of an infected person. If you sit next to someone who is coughing or has other symptoms you might ask to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7665738/">move seats</a> if spare seats are available. <a href="https://cdn1.sph.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2443/2020/10/HSPH-APHI-Phase-One-Report.pdf">Distance</a> yourself from others if you can, particularly when getting on and off the plane. You might also avoid sitting close to the toilets as passengers will hang about in the aisles waiting to use them, particularly on long flights. The longer the flight The risk increases with long- versus <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33650201/">short- or medium-haul</a>flights. During long-haul flights passengers are also more likely to <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ina.12979">recline their seats</a>. This somewhat reduces the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8013760/">protection upright seats</a> provide in reducing air movement between rows. If you or others are not wearing a mask or wearing it properly You can breathe infectious particles in and out via your nose as well as your mouth, so don’t wear your mask under your chin or nose. The risk also increases when everyone takes off their masks during food service. You might choose not to eat or drink on short flights to avoid this. Alternatively you might bring a snack to eat before food service begins, or <a href="https://cdn1.sph.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2443/2020/10/HSPH-APHI-Phase-One-Report.pdf">eat after</a> those around you. If you contaminate your food or your face You can catch COVID through touching your food or face with contaminated fingers. Sanitise your hands regularly and <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9176589">train yourself</a> to not touch your face. If you are in business class Based on limited reports, the transmission risk appears higher in business class. This is possibly because of <a href="https://globalizationandhealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12992-021-00749-6">more interruptions to mask wearing</a> due to greater service of food and drinks. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared in <a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-cut-your-chance-of-catching-covid-on-a-plane-wear-a-mask-and-avoid-business-class-180333" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

International Travel

Healthy humans drive the economy: we’re now witnessing one of the worst public policy failures in Australia’s history

Australians are getting a stark reminder about how value is actually created in an economy, and how supply chains truly work. Ask chief executives where value comes from and they will credit their own smart decisions that inflate shareholder wealth. Ask logistics experts how supply chains work and they will wax eloquent about ports, terminals and trucks. Politicians, meanwhile, highlight nebulous intangibles like “investor confidence” – enhanced, presumably, by their own steady hands on the tiller. The reality of value-added production and supply is much more human than all of this. It is people who are the driving force behind production, distribution and supply. Labour – human beings getting out of bed and going to work, using their brains and brawn to produce actual goods and services – is the only thing that adds value to the “free gifts” we harvest from nature. It’s the only thing that puts food on supermarket shelves, cares for sick people and teaches our children. Even the technology used to enhance workers’ productivity – or sometimes even replace them – is ultimately the culmination of other human beings doing their jobs. The glorious complexity of the whole economy boils down to human beings, using raw materials extracted and tools built by other human beings, working to produce goods and services. <h2>A narrow, distorted economic lens</h2> The economy doesn’t work if people can’t work. So the first economic priority during a pandemic must be to keep people healthy enough to keep working, producing, delivering and buying. That some political and business leaders have, from the outset of COVID-19, consistently downplayed the economic costs of mass illness, reflects a narrow, distorted economic lens. We’re now seeing the result – one of the worst public policy failures in Australia’s history. The Omicron variant is tearing through Australia’s workforce, from <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/nurses-are-in-despair-as-staffing-shortages-bite-in-nsw-hospitals-20220103-p59ljc.html?fbclid=IwAR3obDpqk7Muu2xpOA1H7MH2D2TuxPIzMQrL_NKk2QoKHA2LriWoRcmRO8o">health care</a> and <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/hundreds-of-nsw-childcare-centres-shut-due-to-covid-20220104-p59ls4.html">child care</a>, to <a href="https://www.edenmagnet.com.au/story/7575635/knock-on-effects-through-supply-chain-despite-eased-covid-rules-for-workers/">agriculture</a> and <a href="https://www.freshplaza.com/article/9388733/omicron-has-now-put-us-in-a-desperate-situation-in-regards-to-workers-shortage-and-shipping-issues/">manufacturing</a>, to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-06/supermarket-shortage-supply-chain-truck-driver-covid/100741392">transportation and logistics</a>, to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/surf-lifesavers-and-students-fill-paramedic-shifts-as-omicron-spreads-20220108-p59mrq.html">emergency services</a>. The result is an unprecedented, and preventable, economic catastrophe. This catastrophe was visited upon us by leaders – NSW Premier Dom Perrotet and Prime Minister Scott Morrison in particular – on the grounds they were protecting the economy. Like a Mafia kingpin extorting money, this is the kind of “protection” that can kill you. <h2>Effect as bad as lockdowns</h2> On a typical day in normal times, between <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia/nov-2021/EM2b.xlsx">3% and 4% of employed Australians</a> miss work due to their own illness. Multiple reports from NSW indicate up to half of workers are now absent due to COVID: because they contracted it, were exposed to it, or must care for someone (like children barred from child care) because of it. With infections still spreading, this will get worse in the days ahead. Staffing shortages have left hospitals in chaos, supermarket shelves empty, supply chains paralysed. ANZ Bank data, for example, shows <a href="https://twitter.com/ANZ_Research/status/1479284711151345666?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet">economic activity in Sydney</a> has fallen to a level lower than the worst lockdowns. <hr /> Spending in Sydney and Melbourne now near lockdown conditions <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440169/original/file-20220111-17-1jp9jpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440169/original/file-20220111-17-1jp9jpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="ANZ Bank data shows spending in Sydney and Melbourne has fallen to levels typical of lockdown conditions." /></a> ANZ Research <hr /> If relaxing health restrictions in December (as Omicron was already spreading) was motivated by a desire to boost the economy, this is an own-goal for the history books. <h2>Relaxing isolation rules</h2> Now the response to Omicron ravaging labour supply is to relax isolation requirements for workers who have contracted, or been exposed to, COVID-19. The first step was to shift the goalposts on “test, trace, isolate and quarantine” arrangements by redefining “close contact”. On December 29 <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/press-conference-kirribilli-nsw-10">the Prime Minister said</a> it was important to move to a new definition “that enables Australia to keep moving, for people to get on with their lives”. The next day National Cabinet <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/national-cabinet-statement-12">approved a definition</a> such that only individuals having spent at least four hours indoors with a COVID-infected person needed to isolate. Australians certainly want supply chains to keep moving. That won’t happen by simply pretending someone with three hours and 59 minutes of face-to-face indoor contact with Omicron is safe. Putting asymptomatic but exposed and potentially infected people back to work will only accelerate the spread. The second step has been to reduce the isolation period for those who do pass this tougher “close contact” test. At its December 30 meeting National Cabinet agreed to a standard isolation period of seven days (ten days in South Australia), <a href="https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/gp-opinion/so-you-have-been-asked-to-self-isolate-or-quaranti">down from 14 days</a>. For “critical workers” in essential services including food logistics, the NSW and Queensland governments <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/isolation-rules-relaxed-for-critical-workers-as-nsw-battles-supply-chain-issues/news-story/2b97ef133f6c3caff9dcd5bc548cc58b">have gone even further</a>, allowing employers to call them back to work so long as they are asymptomatic. <h2>Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory</h2> This follows a <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/s1227-isolation-quarantine-guidance.html">US precedent</a>, despite <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMc2102507?articleTools=true">scientific evidence</a> indicating contagion commonly lasts longer than 5 days. Employers will use this change to pressure exposed and even sick workers to return to work, risking their own health, colleagues, customers, and inevitably spreading the virus further. Copying US COVID protocols only guarantees US-style infection rates. In fact, since 5 January, Australia’s seven-day rolling average infections per million <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/coronavirus-data-explorer?zoomToSelection=true&time=2021-03-30..latest&facet=none&pickerSort=desc&pickerMetric=total_cases_per_million&hideControls=true&Metric=Confirmed+cases&Interval=7-day+rolling+average&Relative+to+Population=true&Color+by+test+positivity=false&country=USA%7EAUS">now exceed that of the US</a>. <hr /> <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440179/original/file-20220111-21-zzh3bj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440179/original/file-20220111-21-zzh3bj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people, Australia compared to United States." /></a> <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/coronavirus-data-explorer?zoomToSelection=true&time=2021-03-30..latest&facet=none&pickerSort=desc&pickerMetric=total_cases_per_million&hideControls=true&Metric=Confirmed+cases&Interval=7-day+rolling+average&Relative+to+Population=true&Color+by+test+positivity=false&country=USA~AUS" class="source">Our Wold in Data</a>, <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" class="license">CC BY</a> <hr /> From one of the best COVID responses in the world to one of the worst, Australia has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. <h2>It’s not too late to limit the carnage</h2> The idea that health considerations <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/oct/07/its-an-economic-crisis-too-in-nsw-what-a-difference-a-new-premier-makes">had to be balanced with economic interests</a> was always a false dichotomy. A healthy economy requires healthy workers and healthy consumers. The Omicron surge has created an economic emergency that will be difficult to endure. But it’s not too late to limit further avoidable contagion. Infection prevention practices (including masks, capacity limits, prohibitions on group indoor activities, PPE and distancing in workplaces, and free and accessible rapid tests) must be restored and enforced. Income supports for workers who stay home must be restored. Staffing strategies need to emphasise steady, secure jobs, rather than outsourcing and gig arrangements which have facilitated contagion. Above all, our policy makers need to remember the economy is composed of human beings, and refocus their attention on keeping people healthy. Protecting people is the only thing that can protect the economy.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174606/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jim-stanford-521684">Jim Stanford</a>, Economist and Director, Centre for Future Work, Australia Institute; Honorary Professor of Political Economy, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/healthy-humans-drive-the-economy-were-now-witnessing-one-of-the-worst-public-policy-failures-in-australias-history-174606">original article</a>. Image: Shutterstock

Retirement Income

Over 60

News

Shop

Catalogues

Travel

Health

Lifestyle

Finance

Entertainment

Property

Information

Keep up to date

Search

“Selfish” husband leaves wife behind for first class upgrade on their honeymoon

Flight cancelled after parents demand free upgrade for their child

Eye-watering price tag for "remarkable" first class Titanic menu

Heated argument between economy passengers reignites plane etiquette debate

"You've been bumped": Vietnam vet slams Qantas for booting him from business class

Qantas slapped with class action lawsuit

Can’t afford a gym membership or fitness class? 3 things to include in a DIY exercise program

How much one man paid to fly First Class forever

“No justification for this ever”: Outrage over one husband’s selfish inflight arrangement

Let’s dance! How dance classes can lift your mood and help boost your social life

How zinc batteries could power the sustainable economy

Fighting inflation doesn’t directly cause unemployment – but that’s still the most likely outcome

“I am not a villain”: Woman refuses to switch plane seats for a family

Loretta Lynn was more than a great songwriter – she was a spokeswoman for white rural working-class women

“Kia Ora NZ!”: First cruise ship returns to New Zealand

New discovery reveals last moments of Pompeii’s middle class

A heated steering wheel for $20 a month? What’s driving the subscriptions economy

Business class traveller “shocked” at meal

Want to cut your chance of catching COVID on a plane? Wear a mask and avoid business class

Healthy humans drive the economy: we’re now witnessing one of the worst public policy failures in Australia’s history

News

Shop

Catalogues

Travel

Health

Lifestyle

Finance

Entertainment

Property

Information

Keep up to date

Search

“Selfish” husband leaves wife behind for first class upgrade on their honeymoon

Flight cancelled after parents demand free upgrade for their child

Eye-watering price tag for "remarkable" first class Titanic menu

Heated argument between economy passengers reignites plane etiquette debate

"You've been bumped": Vietnam vet slams Qantas for booting him from business class

Qantas slapped with class action lawsuit

Can’t afford a gym membership or fitness class? 3 things to include in a DIY exercise program

How much one man paid to fly First Class forever

“No justification for this ever”: Outrage over one husband’s selfish inflight arrangement

Let’s dance! How dance classes can lift your mood and help boost your social life

How zinc batteries could power the sustainable economy

Fighting inflation doesn’t directly cause unemployment – but that’s still the most likely outcome

“I am not a villain”: Woman refuses to switch plane seats for a family

Loretta Lynn was more than a great songwriter – she was a spokeswoman for white rural working-class women

“Kia Ora NZ!”: First cruise ship returns to New Zealand

New discovery reveals last moments of Pompeii’s middle class

A heated steering wheel for $20 a month? What’s driving the subscriptions economy

Business class traveller “shocked” at meal

Want to cut your chance of catching COVID on a plane? Wear a mask and avoid business class

Healthy humans drive the economy: we’re now witnessing one of the worst public policy failures in Australia’s history

Join Over60