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From: kallis@pen.DEC
Newsgroups: net.aviation
Subject: Re: Re; Poetic Justice ...
Message-ID: <2883@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 25-Jun-85 11:27:27 EDT
Article-I.D.: decwrl.2883
Posted: Tue Jun 25 11:27:27 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 27-Jun-85 06:08:15 EDT
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>A surprisingly large number of people simply resent (on a Puritan basis)
>other people enjoying themselves in public.  Airplanes are just one
>target of this resentment.  They also object to dirt bikes, cars
>"leaving patches", ghetto blasters, public drunkenness, and loud
>talking/laughter in restaurants and other public places.  (Did you see a
>bit of yourself in that list?  I admit that I resentsome of those
>things myself
--
>Doug Pardee -- Terak Corp. -- !{ihnp4,seismo,decvax}!noao!terak!doug

I don't think t's exactly Puritanism that makes one resent noise.  Un-
fortunately, any society is a compromise between individual freedoms and
collective (in the nonperjorative sense) interactions.  Thus, the famous
Supreme Court decision: "Freedom of speech does not permit someone to
cry `Fire!' in a crowded theater."  That is: the degree of individual
actions *at some point* has to contend with external strictures imposed
by whatever society a person's a member of.

If I'm in a theater, I resent people around me talking so loudly I can't
hear the dialogue from the screen.  Am I being a Puritan?  I doubt it.

Airplanes are a particularly sticky case.  With the exception of sailplanes
and some engine-out situations, aircraft make noise.  Where the conflict(s)
come in are generally classifiable by the following situations:

1) A remote airport becomes less remote when housing is developed close
to it.

2) A small airport expands, drawing increasing amounts of traffic.

3) Newer, heavier aircraft are developed that produce increased noise.  (This
last applies particularly to scheduled airline operations.)

4) People move into a settled area around an airport and then decide they
don't want it around.

Case #4 is the most dishonest.  People who move into an active airport area
generally *know* what's there; they decide after the fact that things would
be "better" without the aircraft.

Cases #1 and #2 can be handled best through public relations efforts.  (I
have seen some lunkheads who hold airport Open Houses and then instead of
trying to gain the friendship of the neighbors try to sell flying lessons!
Ordinarily, necessary for business, but for edgy neighbors, it only ag-
gravates the problem.)

Case #3 requires some sensitivity on the part of the air carriers.

In any case, resentment may be at least in part justified if the offending
party is thoughtless.  (Ex: If you take off early on a weekend morning,
do you throttle back after reaching pattern height so as not to disturb the
neighbors' sleep?  Climbing a little slower can create a reservoir of
good will that may be useful later on.)

Steve Kallis, Jr.