US AIRWAYS : Worst Recent Airline Service

Posted on by July 5, 2010
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I recently had the uncomfortable experience of flying with US Airways. Now, to be fair to me, it wasn’t my choice. I do a fair amount of business travel and my company chooses who I fly with to balance economy and convenience. I think everybody must be aware of the foolishness airlines have perpetrated with their baggage handling policies. Now I like to be a good sport, and carry on one reasonably sized bag that allows room for my computer, some in-flight reading materials, and my noise-suppressing headphones. Everything else gets checked. See how this plays out on US Airways … I sent them this message (I confess, I have corrected some minor typos):

Your treatment of passengers continues to worsen. Because of the checked bag fees, more passengers carry large roller bags on board. Regrettably, the policy of obliging passengers with bags that are too large to check them is rarely enforced. For my part, I checked a bag … to reduce the problem. I carried on a moderately sized back pack. I paid an additional fee for a choice seat, enabling me to board early so that there would be room for my one small bag. So, I have paid a fee, and another fee, and accepted the inconvenience of having to wait for my bag and carry the risk of it not arriving at my destination in a timely fashion. Imagine my astonishment and indignation at the suggestion that I should leave overhead space clear for those who have accepted none of those costs and inconvenience, and put my backpack under the seat in front of me, so that I should be more cramped, even, than usual. This is piling injury upon insult upon injury. I suggest that you desist from making this request, or make arrangements to enable those with choice seats to store their properly sized carryon bags in overhead compartments (when only one is carried), or that you withdraw some of these nickel and dime fees. I have travelled recently with other major airlines, which neither charged me for “choice” seats, nor expected me to store my single, small, carryon bag in front of me. Until you do better, other airlines will continue to be my preference.

Here’s the response I got:

Dear Mr. Rowlands:
Thank you for contacting Customer Relations at US Airways. We appreciate your comments and concerns regarding the fees that are imposed for baggage and Choice seats. We value the insight and feedback of our passengers and your concerns have been documented and sent to the proper departments including In-Flight. Many of our current policies or changes to policies have come about because of the feedback from our customers.
Mr. Rowlands, we appreciate the time you have taken to make us aware of your concerns. Given the privilege of serving you again on US Airways, we look forward to providing you with a more satisfying travel experience. Sincerely …
preference.

I don’t know about you, but to me it translates as “thanks … we don’t expect to do anything for you … “. What do you think?

Peeved by Politicized Parades?

Posted on by July 5, 2010
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Myra and I walked on our local 4th of July parade for about the 9th time since we moved to the US in 2000. Now if you want to say there’s something a bit odd about two Brit’s who aren’t even citizens walking on a parade the celebrates independence from British tyranny, feel free … of course you know, and we know, that what really happened was more nuanced than that. We walk because we were originally asked to by our local Kiwanis club, of which we were proud members. More recently, we’ve participated with “One Nation Under God” (http://www.onug.usa) because we are sympathetic to the views of “a growing alliance of Patriotic, God – Fearing American Citizens who have decided, it is time to take back America from the organized resistance groups who have succeeded in undermining our cherished American values, led us in disobedience to the laws of God, revised and watered down our history, taken away prayer and public references to God, and publicly ridiculed any reliance on our Creator as the sole source of all our national blessings and prosperity.”

I was disturbed, this year … perhaps this was the first time I really noticed … by the heavy politicizing of the parade. Don’t get me wrong … I’m politically conservative … and I’m in sympathy with those who want to reduce big government, cut taxes, affirm the words of the constitution as written … but it seems to me that the 4th of July parade should be one time when everyone joins together to celebrate the timeless common shared values of America and forget about spiteful backbiting. What do you think?

Mind The Gap

Posted on by May 22, 2010
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“Mind The Gap” … amazing how a simple announcement introduced to warn travellers of the gap between platforms and trains on the London Underground has entered the popular consciousness! And it popped into my head when I thought about something Myra and I have been talking about. It’s no revelation that many kids brought up to attend church regularly are unchurched by the time they are 25. In fact the “news” is so old that the phenomenon has a name : “Church dropouts”. There’s some great research on the topic conducted in 2007 by Lifeway (LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention is one of the world’s largest providers of Christian products and services). You can find their stuff on Slideshare (http://www.slideshare.net/). The statistical bottom line is that — among those who attended a Protestant church twice a month or more for at least a year in high school — 70 percent of 23-30 year olds stopped attending church regularly for at least a year between ages 18-22 (but the good news, I suppose, is that 35% of these dropouts eventually returned and are attending church twice a month.)

What Myra and I are praying about is “are we called to help young adults jump the gap?”. Of course that’s a big deal for us. We still feel called to marriage and family ministry.  We begin to feel that it’s long enough from our disappointment in not joining FamilyLife that it might be time to get active, but we’re very leery of trusting in our own understanding. We want to be sure that we are following God’s leading, not our own desire to make a difference.

Of course, we are not spring chickens either. We’re at least two generations away from these that we are so worried about. What do these youngsters want? How do they think? What works for them? We can see why church “our way” doesn’t work. We can see that there isn’t much going on around us that really guides young adults … gets them, if you like, from the platform of teen life to the railway of adult existence. So where should we go …

Long Overdue Mother’s Day Mea Culpa

Posted on by May 8, 2010
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I was not a grateful son to my mother. In fact there were times in my teen years when I resented her, or was ashamed of her. Do you want to throw rocks? Go ahead … they’d be well deserved.

Now let me make something clear … I loved my mum. I’ve grown to love her more and more as I have got older, and understand more about what she had to deal with. I know a lot more now about things that were going on then than I did at the time. So this is a kind of Mother’s Day plea. Mum’s … share with your kids. Kids … Honor your mother (and your father). Especially, kids, cut mum some slack … she’s dealing with stuff you know nothing about.

In my case, since we were (from about when I was10) a single parent household, there were some tough times. My elder brother, going through his mid-teens, was out of control and abusive. Other kids seemed to have families that were all together, and mothers that were always in control. Other kids stayed with their families, and didn’t seem to spend time in children’s “home’s” (still my entry for the top 10 euphemism list) or with foster parents. So I guess I thought I had it rough. But still …

The three most precious memories of my mother:- One day when I came home from school, the house was warm, clean and tidy, and there was dinner in the oven (it must have happened many times … but that one day sticks in my mind). One day when I was in a concert at school and mum was in the audience (I hated that green suit, but I loved that she was there) … I resented all the one’s she missed, as though she had a choice. The one time I won a prize (a sympathy award, I believe, looking back) and mum was proud of me … I know she was proud of me, but we didn’t talk about that kind of thing.

Now I look back, and see how desparately mum tried to keep us together. I remember the time she took food off her plate to feed one of us who had to complain about being hungry. I see how she pushed us towards education, and doing better with ourselves.   I see the times she humiliated herself to get what she thought we needed.  I see that she had the persistence and the refusal to give up that is in my make up.  And I see it’s nothing special … I see millions of mums doing the same things everyday, breaking their backs and their hearts for ungrateful sons and daughters, and I am ashamed, and wish I could sit her down and tell her how much I love her, and miss her. … I missed that chance, and may never get another, because I don’t know that mum (who hated churches) ever got saved. 

This is a Mother’s Day mea culpa. I have sinned. I have repented, but the consequences will remain.

Repost #4 The Marriage Penalty

Posted on by May 8, 2010
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(This is a repost from our old blog. It was originally posted on 15th March 2009)

I’ve been quiet in the blogsphere for a while, as there have been many other things going on … but with a little more time on my hands just now I’m hoping to be a bit more active.

The first thing I want to write about has been on my mind for a while. On February 25th the Wall Street Journal published a letter from a reader:

“My wife and I both work and every year we pay a tax penalty for being married. Every year, I suggest we get divorced and keep living together and not tell anyone. Many of our friends in similar situations live together and stay single. At what point would it be practical to get divorced?”

What do you think of that? The WSJ columnist of course responded “Are you crazy, what part of ‘God hates divorce’ don’t you understand?” Not! She carefully provides the caveats about the IRS’s position on such maneuvers, provides details about the income points at which the tax penalty kicks in and carefully notes the potential financial downsides.  And at the end, … “Also, don’t forget the imponderable effects a tax-driven divorce might have on your relationship”!

Now let me say that my beautiful wife Myra is a homemaker, and our earnings don’t take us anywhere near a “marriage penalty”. But if we did jointly earn $200,000 we’d happily pay $787 for the privilege of being married. And I’m wondering about the guy who wrote the letter. What marriage vows did he take? Do you think they included “For richer, for poorer” or “till death us do part”? We have to help people take the covenant promise of marriage more seriously.  And here’s another thing … our tax-challenged inquirer might not be hearing a very important message from his wife. Notice they’re still married, although he suggests this money-saving divorce device every year? One of my favorite books about women and their inner lives is “for men only” by Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn. Based on scientific surveys and hundreds of interviews this great little work explains a LOT about women that most guys just don’t get. And check this out … when asked,  70% of married women would rather deal with financial struggles than struggles arising out of insecurity or lack of closeness in the marriage relationship. Mr tax-victim is making his wife feel threatened and insecure, over a few hundred dollars a year.

Of course the Bible bottom-line on this sordid little query (oops, did my prejudices show?) is given in Ephesians ?5:25: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and ??gave Himself for her,..”.  Did you get that? Jesus died for the church … his bride. Let’s not think about nickel-and-diming our marriages to death!

Date Bites … as well as Date Nights ….

Posted on by May 8, 2010
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I confess … I’m like (I think) most married men. I’m not so hot at the romance thing … I love my wife more than I could tell you, and more than I can tell her. She KNOWS I love her. But I’m really not good at that soft, squishy, relational … not necessarily physical … loving stuff. Fortunately, for the romantically challenged amongst us, some genius coined the idea of the regular, intentional, “Date Night”. And if you want help on that idea, FamilyLife (www.familylife.com) has a couple of great books — “Simply Romantic Nights” (volumes 1 and 2). But I had an inspiration the other day. Myra and I were sitting in a car park, waiting to go and meet some folks. We were early, and so we thought we’d just sit for a few minutes, watching the lake. Then it struck me… This was ROMANTIC !!! Romance didn’t have to be this great planned activity … it could be 5 minutes, focused on each other … any where, any time. The Date Bite was born. Be intentional. Take 5 for loving …

Really Mr Vice President? “Not such a big f***ing deal”?

Posted on by March 29, 2010
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Forgive the obscenity. You’ll recognize that I’m quoting the Vice President. Yesterday (March 23, 2010),  at the White House signing ceremony for the healthcare legislation (officially H.R.3590: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act).  Vice President Biden, introducing President Obama shook the President’s hand and observed, “This is a big f***ing deal.” Robert Gibbs, White House Press Secretary tweeted, “And yes Mr. Vice President, you’re right…”  

News media have jumped on the comment, and made quite a to-do about it. I’d almost say he said it on purpose, to divert attention from what really matters. Because what really matters is the content and constitutionality of the legislation — not the inadvertent exposure of yet another politician’s potty mouth. Several things have to my mind as I’ve been mulling over H.R. 3590. 

  1. Are the healthcare provisions good or bad?
  2. How do I feel about special deals in the legislation?
  3. What about the “extra” provisions in the bill?
  4. Do I really know if this bill is a “big deal” or not?
  5. Was the way this legislation passed “proper” (whatever that means)?

I don’t honestly know if the overall healthcare content of the legislation is good or bad. A summary of the provisions runs into 66 pages (see http://dpc.senate.gov/healthreformbill/healthbill53.pdf) and some of the language is, to say the least, unclear! 

  • My quick impression is that is DOES extend coverage to many who could not othewise obtain it — which is a good thing.
  • On the other hand, it adds an extra burden of costs to employers and middle class families (especially by enforcing a requirement to maintain “minimal healthcare coverage) — not so good.
  • It increases entitlement for some who could fend for themselves (“Children” up to age 26!) — not so good.
  • It provides support for wellness programs — obesity management and tobacco cessation. Seems like a good thing.
  • On Abortion, it permits states to prohibit abortion coverage in qualified health plans offered through an exchange in the state. It prohibits federal funds from being used for abortion services and requires separate accounts for payments for such services. I’m not sure about the overall impact — many of those who have essentially the same views on faith and government as I do assure me that the bill adds funding for abortion, through indirect application of its provisions. The fact that the President felt it necessary to issue an Executive Order setting out “Following the recent enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “Act”), it is necessary to establish an adequate enforcement mechanism to ensure that Federal funds are not used for abortion services (except in cases of rape or incest, or when the life of the woman would be endangered), consistent with a longstanding Federal statutory restriction that is commonly known as the Hyde Amendment.” seems to suggest that they are correct. Executive orders, of course, persist as long as the then President wishes — and no longer. This appears to leave a substantial threat that federal funding for abortions will one day be freely available. At the very least, the lack of clarity is a bad thing … 
  • It adds substantial administrative and data processing burdens. I know about the implications of the data processing provisions and I’m willing to stake my small reputation that the costs will be much greater than anticipated
  • … and so on.

I’m bothered by special deals for American Indians, Alaska, Louisiana, and the “frontier” states of  Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota and Utah.  

The healthcare aspects of the legislation are one thing … but there’s something else that really bugs me: The other items that have been included, portmanteau style, in this massive legislation. The “Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act” contains provisions which provide 2 billion dollars to allow community colleges to develop and improve educational or career training programs and adds about 40 billion dollars in support of student loan programs. I’m not (necessarily) against such provisions, but I don’t see why they belong in healthcare legislation! I’m sure that most people, if asked, have no idea these provisions are included when they express themselves as being for or against “Healthcare”.  

As I tried to decide if the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was a big deal or not, I had three questions in mind: 

  1. Will the proportion of my wealth and income that I have to spend on healthcare increase?
  2. Will the proportion of my tax dollar spent on healthcare increase (affecting the other services I receive)?
  3. Will the quality of mine (and Myra’s) healthcare improve?

I can’t prove it, but I fear the answers are “yes, yes, and no” – but I’m sure the legislation doesn’t fix the fundamental issues of healthcare. The fundamental issues are about the incentives for healthcare professionals to provide the best possible service as affordable as possible, and for consumers to be best able to stay healthy. That involves more focus on helping people stay healthy, better control of “real” costs (payroll, drugs, equipment, etc.) and better control of administrative costs. What I have seen in this new legislation has only minimal impact on these issues, at best … which makes it not such a big deal. 

This brings me to the last issue that has been occupying my mind as I consider  H.R. 3590. Is the way this legislation passed proper? It has been argued that there is, at best, no clear public majority in favor of the legislation. Does that mean that that Congress and the President have acted improperly in passing it? 

These United States are, by the grace of God, a unique federal constitutional republic. Senators and members of the House of Representatives are elected to speak for their constituents in the legislature. This is more complicated than it sounds, since “speaking” cannot mean “giving the opinion of every constituent”, and does not even, necessarily, mean “giving the opinion of the majority of constituents on every issue”. I believe (somewhat naively) that it should mean, “expressing what is, in the best understanding of the representative, the best interests of all constituents”.  In practice, of course, it means something more like, “doing what is most likely to advance a political career”. Interestingly, the constitution is silent on how representation is to work. It follows that any discussion as to whether representatives “should” express themselves becomes a matter of opinion … Mine is that making law on such a fundamental issue as healthcare needs to be an open process, and that passing it should not depend on fancy mechanisms to garner the necessary representative votes. The process used to pass H.R. 3590 fails … and to me, that is a big deal. 

In the end, the passing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a big deal for President Obama and Vice President Biden, because had their administration failed to pass its first major legislation its effectiveness would, immediately, have been mortally undermined. For the rest of us, it’s a wasted opportunity foisted upon us by partisan political sleight of hand. Shame. 

One last thing … isn’t it sad, and typical, that the media chose to jump on the Vice President’s foul mouthed comment and made so much of it. What a waste of time that could, and should, have been spent discussing the real issues. News as entertainment is a sickness all of its own …

 

Repost #3 Family Misunderstandings

Posted on by March 20, 2010
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(This is a repost from our old blog. It was originally posted on 6th September 2008)

It’s been a while since our last blog entry. We’ve been busy building our support base, fighting off Tropical Storm Fay (Myra), attending a conference (Ian) and other things … but this morning as we were reading The Word, 1 Cor. 15:7 started a train of thought. It says “After that He was seen by James, …”. There is no scriptural evidence, but it’s always assumed that the “James” mentioned was Jesus’ brother.  Has it ever struck you as how odd it was the Jesus’ family never got behind Him during his ministry? And yet James became the undisputed leader of the Jerusalem church. This little verse makes it likely that the cumulative weight of the crucifixion and the resurrection changed James’ mind. But the family story is interesting isn’t it? Raised with the perfect elder brother, Jesus’ brothers and sisters could not shake of the chains of respectability and follow Him when his ministry started.

Myra and I reflected that we have brothers and sisters who don’t “get” what we are doing either. How about you? Sometimes it’s tough to be a Christ-follower when even your closest family isn’t happy with the way your life changes before their eyes. It can be even tougher. Some of you might be wives with husbands who aren’t Christians yet … or husbands trying to give Christ-like sacrificial leadership to a family that is quite happy living in a worldly way. The apostle Peter said “Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.” and “Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.”. He also accounts for difficulties in the Christian life, saying “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps…”. Does that seem a stretch … to believe that we should expect even Christian marriage and family life to be a struggle? I don’t find it hard to believe. If you’re trying to raise your children and love and respect your spouse the way God intended, you’re living counter culture. The rewards are great, but they don’t come easy!

Where Have All The Endings Gone?

Posted on by March 20, 2010
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We’ve noticed recently that filmmakers wimp out of supplying the endings to perfectly good movies. This has got to stop! For instance, last night we watched “ADAM” (See http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1185836/ for info). Adam has Asperger’s Syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder (http://www.aspergersyndrome.org/). The plot mostly deals with the evolving relationship between Adam, and his new neighbor Beth. After a few twists of plot the movie ends with Adam moving from New York to California, and Beth staying put … and we don’t really get to know if they all live happily ever after or not. This is feeble! We wanted Beth to follow Adam, or Adam to get together with the perky carol at his new job site … but we’ll never know. Memo to filmmakers. Come on guys. Finish the job!

Repost #2 Absent Fathers

Posted on by March 20, 2010
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(This is a repost from our old blog. It was originally posted on 21st June 2008)

This post has taken a few days to pull together because I wanted to research the statistics. I read an article in the Wall Street Journal (The Tragedy of America’s Disappearing Fathers By Juan Williams, June 14, 2008, Page A11) written on the occasion of Father’s Day. He cited the National Center for Health Statistics as saying that nearly a quarter of America’s white children (22%) do not have any male in their homes; nearly a third (31%) of Hispanic children and over half of black children (56%) are fatherless. Well, I followed up, and he’s right.  A paper from the National Fatherhood Initiative (www.fatherhood.org) – “The Costs Of Father Absence” confirms the numbers. In fact about 34% of children are living without their biological fathers, and half of all children and 80% of all African American children will spend some part of their childhood without their fathers present.

The effects are chilling. Imagine going through scripture and removing all the places where a father instructed, loved, taught or disciplined a son … Absent fathers don’t  “kiss their sons and daughters”, Gen (31:28), “Teach these words diligently” to their children (Deu 6:7), “Train up their children as they should go” (Pr 22:16) or provide for their children (2 Cor 1:14) … or so many other things.

Adult children of single-mother families are more likely to go to prison, suffer divorce, have an out-of-wedlock birth, and suffer mental and emotional health problems. As a child of divorce myself I can attest to some of those effects – in my life or those of my siblings.

There’s a great book I wish father’s would read – “Never Walk Away” by Crawford Loritts, available from FamilyLife® and bookstores. One quote “The tragedy, or the blessing, is that we tend to raise our children the way we were raised. More often than not we tend to become the end result of what has been done to us, more than of what has been said to us. If we grew up without a heart connection to our fathers, we’ll battle a seemingly irresistible inclination to be disconnected from our children.” Indeed – and if the father-child connection fails, what of the spiritual legacy?

My belated Fathers’ Day prayer is that young couples will marry first, and then have children – and that dad’s will commit to connect with their kids … for life.