Back from Santorini and Crete, the final destinations of my little trip to Greece, I am reflecting on all of the conversations that I overheard among people about to get onto a ferry or an airplane and those staying behind. About 80 percent of the time a man saying farewell to a traveler would say “Have a good trip.” About 80 percent of the time a woman saying farewell to a traveler would say “Have a safe trip.”
Men apparently fear that the traveler will suffer discomfort, e.g., that a tour group of 750 Croatian college grads will pile onto the ferry in Santorini, all of whom need to pass through one standard-sized doorway on a car deck and thus the ferry will sail 1.5 hours late with people still stuck in the airless windowless car deck. Or that you’ll show up in Heathrow after all the flights to Boston have left and learn that the rooms at the airport Hilton are 293 pounds per night ($522, about what a typical Brit spends on a one-week package beach holiday on Corfu or Crete, including airfare, hotel, and most meals (the airport information desk staff found me a B&B for $71)).
Women apparently fear violence and accidents. Heathrow airport feeds this fear with periodic announcements “Passengers are reminded not to leave baggage unattended and not to look after baggage for other persons.” I.e., if the person sitting next to you says “Would you mind watching this stuff while I go to the bathroom” you’re supposed to say “No” on the theory that they might be part of the Jihad Against Pret a Manger.
One odd item: one of the movies selected by British Airways for the Boeing 777 flying from London to Boston was “The Terminal”, about a guy trapped for 9 months at an international airport (supposedly JFK but reconceived by Hollywood types who travel by private jet and never see the interior of a public terminal in the U.S.).
“reconceived by Hollywood types who travel by private jet and never see the interior of a public terminal in the U.S.”
Worse than that – it posited working-class people uniting to defeat the more irrational aspects of Homeland Security. How likely is *that* in NY? (I only saw the damn thing because I’d been told what was in the Planters can. A manipulative film)
I’m not so sure that the good trip and safe trip reasons are quite what you say, at least for me. To me, someone saying “have a safe trip” is a touch insulting. As a guy, my most important possesion is my competence. So having someone say “have a safe trip” is a subtle slap against it – am I not compentent at being safe? Of course (as any woman will tell you) that’s silly – you can’t control every aspect of your safety. But nevertheless I tell people to have a good trip.
A friend was leaving on a motorcycle day trip. His wife said “Have fun, drive safe” His reponse was “Make up your mind, woman!”