gergo @gergolippai@mastodon.social

as you can tell, I have a bad case of #flygskam going on: I always hated flying (the legroom, the security queues, the noisy crowded airports made sure about that), now I proper dread it. I do challenge business trips (the pandemic helped), and I do take the train this year to holidays too, starting small. but I do feel this area will never be consumer regulated, because hey, who doesn't want to go to Thailand for ALL their vacations? 6/6

so: please do not fix Schiphol. okay, maybe fix it a bit. but more than that, fix flying. tax it. make it, sorry to say, mor eexpensive. more exclusive. I'm not saying get rid of all the flights, because then we are back in Blue Riband age (which, mind you, I would totally love). but limit flights to *over* 1000 km or something. at least until cool scientists invent a proper solar powered passenger plane. 5/x

but also, why do they not have a proper margin? supposedly because flying, I put it to you, is *too* cheap. in what world is flying from Amsterdam to Brussels or Berlin justified and how in the name of fuck can I fly there for 24 EUR while pumping 160 kg of CO2 in the air? there is a perfectly fine land in between! no wars, no high mountains, no oceans - just take the fucking train. 4/x

well first off, in my humble opinion this is bullshit in the first place. I will not start digging for Schiphol's financials now, but pretty sure they could afford to pay enough to ground staff to hire enough of them. I mean there are people who deliver food for a living, ffs. 3/x

schiphol downsized back in pandemic times, because of course they did. now, surprise surprise, they are short of staff. they are not paying enough, and the workforce went elsewhere, market forces are in effect. so okay, let's pay more, I'd say.
but suppose they can't pay more, because, well, flying is cheap and it just doesn't generate enough dough to pay ground staff of proper size. 2/x

while i am absolutely sympathetic with people that couldn't get on their flights at #schiphol in the last days/weeks (in case you missed it, #schiphol is a fucking mess), to me this is also a bit of a "writing on the wall" thing: flying, as we used to have it, is not sustainable, both from environmental and economical perspective.
especially if you travel within Europe, train should be a better alternative. because: 🧵

one of the last things i need twitter for is a steady stream of stupid memes. i wonder, is there a fediverse channel where I could get my daily hit? 🤔

fuck this thing in particular

new bike, perfect weather expected today. if i can get my allergy under control, we’re looking at a good day. #🚴‍♂️

I realised I took all these photos that I never, umm, pixelfeded (?), so i'm sorting them thru now.
need.
my.
pixelfed.
feed.

there, i woked it for you