Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Piss-poor idea

ANA, Japan's second largest airline, will be introducing women-only lavatory facilities on flights. This does not seem like a good idea on several fronts. My first thought, from my very limited experience in observing female bathroom lines, they tend to be five times longer.
The article also cites that at least part of the reason for this change was due to a customer survey in which a large percentage of women passengers thought this would be a good idea. Hmmm - they must have been shocked to hear that. Among the reasons the women cited for the women-only lavatory was that men leave the toilet seat up. Are any of these women married? If so, do they have separate facilities in their own home? Now, the only thing I really know about Japan is that there is no space on the island-nation, hence multiple-level driving ranges, and the whole sleeping in a drawer bit. So I presume that most dwellings do not use precious, precious space on multiple and unnecessary bathrooms.

And finally, I could totally picture the situation where there would be a boy passenger who really has to go, but is forced to wait in line while a perfectly useful airplane lavatory is waiting unoccupied. Now, the airline did say they would waive the rule in cases of "emergencies" and when "few women are on-board." But I'm thinking, isn't every time you have to go an "emergency"?

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Views from the AESOB

This was the view from my office window last Thursday - this is definitely one of the perks of working on the team that I work on. Yep, the view, the benefits, the parking space, the entertainment...the list goes on and on.
This was right before the blizzard. This is not a black and white picture. There are absolutely no effects on this shot.
And here is what all those ominous clouds led to.