Welcome to a new century of air travel, a world of cramped seats, canceled flights, angry passengers and flight attendants caught in the middle of it all

 * … AIR TRAVEL: I got a glimpse at the future of air travel and trust me, it's not pretty. On a flight from Denver to Chicago last week, I boarded a beautiful spanking new United Boeing 737 800/900, richly

trimmed with leather seats and adorned with soft blue lights. The problem: the seats were so cramped only a would-be dwarf king like Peter Dinklage from Game of Thrones could possibly find them the least bit accomodating. A flight attendant told me that United squeezed four to five extra rows of seats into the new version of the aircraft. "Please write United," she told me. "This is going to be a nightmare and we are going to take all the heat."

 * … MORE UNITED: And it doesn't stop there. On the way home, I learned passengers on a United flight from Chicago to Denver suffered a nightmarish indignity. The flight was supposed to leave Chicago at 7:30 a.m. but because of mechanical issues the passengers were loaded and off loaded three different times until the flight was finally canceled at 5:30 p.m., a full 10 hours late. "People were furious," a flight attendant told me. "One guy was throwing F bombs and two families headed to Hawaii for vacation missed all their connections." And once United finally canceled the flight, everyone had to go to customer service to rebook their own flights. Welcome to commerical air travel in the 21st century.

 * … OVERHEARD: A waitress at a coffee shop is overheard telling a customer about some advice she received as a child from her great grand mother. "She always told me that men were like shoes," she said. "You have to find the exact right size. But also, remember that just because you put black polish on a brown shoe,  it will always be a brown shoe." Sounds like good advice to me.

 * … BAD FORM: Since when did spitting in public become acceptable? A middle aged woman told me the story of driving down Chester Avenue when a woman pushing a stroller let out a huge wad right in front of her car as she passed by. Then, later the same day, another woman accompanied by her small children did the exact same thing on Columbus. "In full public I am telling you," she said. "This was no small thing. The wads were so big they were clearly visible from inside my car. It was disgusting."

* … SCAMS: If it's a new day, it must be time for a new telephone scam. Kristin Moore has received more than six calls from a strongly accented woman claiming to be from Delta Air Lines.
"She stated that she was from Delta promoting their new reservation center 'here in Bakersfield '…  They offered me two free round trip tickets within the U.S. I said great, and I was then put through to her supervisor who then went through the whole line … she asked me if I was married I said no (I am married) and then asked me about my significant other. I said I did not have one, so she then told me that they would call back. The free tickets are couples only. I questioned the legitimacy of the call then CLICK. So weird. Not sure what they were going for. The ladies actually got really mad when I challenged them. Delta Air Lines….. Sure!"

  * … JAZZ: And don't forget the 29th annual Bakersfield Jazz Festival is coming up May 8-9 out at the CSUB amphitheather. This is always a terrific two days of jazz that benefits some worthy CSUB scholarships. And trust me: you don't have to be a jazz aficiando to appreciate the talented musicians and singers that will appear on stage.



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The top reasons people hate flying: rear seat kickers, misbehaving children, body odor and people who take off their shoes and socks. And will cyber threats keep you from viewing the new Seth Rogan comedy The Interview?

 * … AIR TRAVEL: What do you think is the most annoying thing about air travel? There is plenty to complain about (cramped seats, delays, high prices, baggage fees) but according to a new national

survey, the most annoying travelers are the "rear seat kickers" followed by parents who allow their children the run of the cabin. In third place were passengers with horrific body odor. My personal beef: folks who take off their shoes and socks while they sit next to you.

 * … THREAT: The people who hacked Sony Pictures Entertainment are threatening an attack on movie theaters that show the Seth Rogan comedy The Interview, based on a screenplay revolving around a scheme to kill North Korean strongman Kim Jong-un. The hackers have already released a boatload of embarrassing personal emails and are promising a "Christmas surprise" with even more data. This is cyber bullying at its worst and - however good or bad the movie is - I hope this doesn't intimidate people from attending.

* … ACHIEVER: Hats off to Malcolm Rivera, a 2013 graduate of Arvin High School and a recipient of the Gates Millennium Scholarship, which will enable him to double major in medieval studies and political science with a minor in Latin. Malcolm was among the students who represented California at the 2013 National 'We The People competition' in Washington, DC. and he now attends UC Davis.

 * … EAST HIGH: Many people aren't aware that East High School is home to an impressive collection of art, donated to the school over the years. Mike Warner, the school's archiving teacher, reached out to explain what happened to the art.  "The paintings were always in the library," he said. "Their significance and background had been lost over time. Several of them were in a storage closet in the library, while others were on display (but neglected.) Thanks to the efforts of librarian Dawn Dobie and Principal John Gibson the paintings were appraised and cleaned up. We discovered that we do indeed have a valuable collection of original artwork. Once the paintings were cleaned they were warehoused for a few years by the Kern High School District. Now all of the paintings are once again on display in the EBHS library. The public is invited to check in at the front office and visit the library during regular school hours. Since our library is frequently reserved for school activities, it is a good idea to call ahead. The school’s number is (661) 871-7221."

 * … SPOTTED: On a friend's Twitter feed: "Teens, you should not being getting drunk. You’re annoying enough as it is."

* … KINDNESS: This act of kindness was shared by Cherryl Biggar: "A FedEx truck happened to be driving down our street as we were attempting to load a large chair into our SUV this morning.  The driver stopped, jumped out of truck, ran over to assist, wished us a Merry Christmas, jumped back into his truck and took off. I want to thank the driver, Frank, for the very nice gesture!"

 * … KIWANIS: John and Judy Henderson gave a shout-out to Westchester Kiwanis which recently "took forty-one needy kids shopping at East Hills Walmart. These children came from six different charitable organizations. Chaperones were Kiwanis members, their families and friends. One chaperone came from Aberdeen, Scotland…Yes, good things happen during the holidays."

Merry Christmas Bakersfield … a time to reflect and to show some grace … happy holidays to all

* … MERRY CHRISTMAS: My best to everyone this year and let's not forget the true meaning of the holidays. Whether Christian or Jewish or non-secular, this is the time for grace and appreciation and

finding that inner peace that often eludes all of us. And how nice is it that when the rest of the country is battling floods and snow, we are enjoying sunny days, mild temperatures and clear skies?

* … AIR TRAVEL: If you think air travel is bad now, it's about to get much worse. The major air carriers, eager to find more ways to make more money, are squeezing more seats into the planes, making lighter seats with less cushion and in many cases restricting the ability of a seat to recline. According to The New York Times, some airlines are reducing the space between seats from the old standard of 34 inches to 30 or even 28 inches. That, and the fact that the average American is getting bigger, not smaller, adds up to the sardine-like environment we all experience in coach.

 * … THEFTS: This is the time of year with burglaries and petty thefts spike. Across our community there have been reports of packages being stolen off porches, of car break-ins and of burglaries. One neighbor of mine had her laundry stolen off the porch in the morning and her Christmas reef in the afternoon. Many of these thefts happen during the day and police say they have increased as more prisoners are paroled because of prison crowding. Beware.

 * … GOOD DEED: This is always a difficult time of year for Margaret Lee, who lost her husband almost exactly two years ago, which is why she was so touched by a recent random act of kindness. She was at the Subway on North Chester and learned that her sandwich had been paid for by a young man in front of her. "I was overwhelmed. I was able to thank him but he will never know just what he did for me. How can you feel down when you find wonderful people like him.  It really changed the way I felt.  I will always remember this act of kindness and will do my best to forward it to others."

* … SPOTTED: Here's something you don't want to think about. Joe Moesta said he spotted "a young man in a local restaurant stuck his knife into a catsup bottle in order to make the catsup flow from the bottle more freely.  When he removed the  knife he licked it with his tongue and reinserted it into the bottle a couple more times. When he had finished his meal and left the restaurant, I mentioned my observation to the waitress who promptly threw the bottle of catsup into the trash. But it makes you wonder how many times this sort of thing happens that is not reported  and the bottle of catsup with someone's saliva is passed on to the next customer. Enjoy your meal."

Remembering 15-year-old Caleb Hannink and The Bakersfield Californian Foundation awards $145,000 in grants

 * ... CALEB: When you count your blessings this week, keep the family of Brad and Maren Hannink in your thoughts. It was their 15-year-old son, Caleb, who died of a heart ailment at Centennial High School last week. Brad Hannink is a financial adviser, an accomplished singer and a former president of the (downtown) Rotary Club of Bakersfield.

 * ... GO BEARS: Three 2012 graduates of Stockdale High School - Chelsea Sanford, Rio Gosling and Julia Johnson - are now freshmen at Baylor University and were in the stadium for Baylor's upset victory over then No. 1 Kansas State. As proud father Guy Sanford said: "The girls had an amazing experience in the stands and will cherish it forever. Having the opportunity to charge the field after the game with the entire student section was a memory of a lifetime. Go Bears!"

* ... AIR TRAVEL: In an earlier post I posed the question: what do you think of people bringing pizzas, hamburgers and French fries on airplanes? Jeff Travis wrote that it could be worse. "My beautiful, dear, and sensitive-nosed wife was on a long flight where we are all joyfully passing the time away, along with all our six kids, watching the televisions attached to the back of the seats when she smelled what she thought was smoke. After clearing the area around the seat it turned out to be a guy's stinking feet. But, to be safe, the pilot turned off all electronics for the rest of the flight. I still feel the glares. Awfully funny in hindsight."

 * ... CALIFORNIAN: The Bakersfield Californian (family) Foundation has awarded $145,000 in grants, the latest in the family's long legacy of giving back to the community; The recipients include the American Lung Association, $15,000;  BARC $10,000; Boys and Girls club of Kern County $7,500; California Living Museum , $16,800;  Community Action Partnership of Kern, $8,276;  Desert Area Resources and Training, $3,000; Flood Bakersfield Ministries, $5,000; Greater Bakersfield Green Expo, $2,500; Henrietta Weill Memorial Child Guidance Clinic $10,676.45; Independent Living Center of Kern County, $3,702; Keep Bakersfield Beautiful, $4,000; Kern Economic Development Foundation, $25,000;  Laze Foundation, $3,500; Legacy Behavioral Services, Inc., $10,000.

 * ... CHARITY: Dress for Success is a national charity that helps women get on their feet by outfitting them with gently used shoes and clothes. The organization has now returned to Bakersfield, and it has a big event coming up on Tuesday, November 27 with a women's shoe drive. Its goal: helping women attain and retain employment. You can help by dropping off shoes at the Haberfelde Building, 1530 17th Street, between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. next Tuesday.

 * ...  CLINICA: Did you know that Clinica Sierra Vista, the agency that provides primary and preventative health care to the underserved residents of Kern, Fresno and Inyo counties, now has almost 1,000 employees? Forty years ago it had two staff members today is operating out of 70 offices.