Being unwise in the ways of bloggers, but tempted to comment on your post, I shall write more formally than most.

I hope you’re not calling for Roamer’s column to be ‘euthanised’ simply because you disagree with him. I, for one, tend to agree with him and to disagree with you. It doesn’t stop me reading you both.

I also thought that people call for others to be ‘euthanised’ for the good of latter and not to prevent them from simply annoying the former. If Roamer is so irritating, simply turn the page. On the other hand, there is something to be said for the views of septuagenarians. It’s called experience and (at times) wisdom.

Yours sincerely

John Caruana
(aged below 40, just about)

(Daphne – It’s interesting that you should point out you are unused to the ways of internet-based communication and then go on to say that, despite being only in your late 30s, you enjoy Roamer and agree with him. A bit of a whiff of old fogeyism there, I would imagine. It’s not because I fail to agree with him that I think he should be dropped – of course not. I consider these matters from one angle only: readership appeal. I’m very ‘sales’ driven. He could be a Labour-supporter for all I care, if he is a good read. The thing is that Roamer is not a good read: the language is archaic and the views are out of touch with contemporary reality. Yes, he has a keen readership, but it is restricted to those in his age cohort (you are exceptional), and they are dropping like flies. Unless Roamer’s column – which can be written by anyone under the same by-line – is freshened up to attract new readers among younger people, its readership will become ever more severely reduced with the passing of the years, regardless of the newspaper’s strong circulation. Even my grandmother, who was 97 when she died five years ago, used to toss the column aside in irritation in the last few years of her life, and my parents, who are just a few years younger than the current Roamer is, remark about his oddly outdated use of 1950s idiom. To my sons, in their 20s, the column might as well be dispatches from another planet, and to me, in my early 40s, it is quite irrelevant, besides committing the greatest crime a columnist can possibly commit, that of failing to amuse, entertain or inform.)

On a positive note, I once had a problem on an Air Malta flight from Heathrow and the Air Malta staff there were very helpful.

[Daphne – Yes, unbelievable. We should pass the hat around and collect some change.]

[Daphne – I think you miss the point that Air Malta did not cheat the man out of anything. He misinterpreted their explanation. I’m not interested particularly in sticking up for Air Malta. I’ve had problems with them just as I have had with other airlines. To give one example, in June I arrived at the Glasgow Air Malta check-in desk 80 minutes ahead of the flight to be told by the Glaswegian blank-eyed dolly-bird at the counter: “Everyone has already checked in and there’s no seat left for you.” That (return) seat had cost me some EUR700, I was desperate to be back in time for an appointment, and there was no way I was going to accept the alternative of a connecting flight via Heathrow with so much photographic equipment that we couldn’t risk checking through. I had to stop myself from lunging across the counter-top and wrapping my photographer’s camera-lights around her scrawny neck. It was the air of sheer and utter indifference that did it, as though my problems were no concern of hers. I suddenly realised why British airports are decorated with massive signs warning you not to assault the staff or you will be immediately arrested. The only reason I made it onto the plane – 10 minutes before it took off – was because I made a lot of very angry telephone calls to home base, which in turn made Vodafone rather happy. I could practically hear the groans all the way from the Malta office: “Oh Christ, guess who we left stranded in Glasgow, of all people.” Only a few months before, my son and his girlfriend spent 10 hours in the departures lounge at Heathrow with no information from the Alitalia staff who were delegated to represent Air Malta, and then a night in an airport hotel, followed by more hours at the airport. The only reason they found out why they were waiting – a missed slot, apparently – was because I called the public relations department in Malta and let rip. But then I had to be the one to relay that information via mobile telephone to the waiting posse in the Heathrow departures lounge. I just shrug the whole thing off as part of the hassle of air travel – I’ve been overbooked by Lufthansa and sent to my destination on an alternative route involving two flights instead of one with a five-hour wait in some hangar of an airport, and given Lm30 compensation. I’ve had Alitalia repeat my arrival date as the departure date on the pre-electronic tickets, leading to chaos at the counter with 20 minutes to go before the flight. I’ve arrived at the check-in desk of some other airline with family in two only to be told that the name of one of my sons was not showing up on their confirmation list. I’ve had my suitcase arrive on a Greek island with no shops 24 hours after I did, with the result that I spent those 24 hours in the jeans I had flown in and couldn’t go to the beach. I’ve sat in a North African airport for five hours with three bored teenagers and around a thousand of what my schoolfriend used to call ‘shouting Johnny Hammills.’ I could go on, but I would never write about it for the newspaper. It’s too damn boring.]

Also, looking at the “importance” of the majority of letters to the Times, I don’t see this one as standing out in its lack thereof. Just from today we have:
– Does the 435000 people projection of 2035 include immigrants (illegal/irregular)
– Someone who is bothered by always calling the Easyline helpdesk (cause she has to dial a *, but it’s not mentioned on the card – shouldn’t she have learned by now?)
– Two dogs barking on a roof

Funny enough, the letters section is my favourite section of the whole newspaper. Probably for the same reason I actually enjoyed Dan Browns books; Neither have much quality, but they do offer a pretty funny read.

My point is that whatever the reason is, he does have a valid claim and why should he not be elligible for this claim for the simple reason that his wife is sick. If anything I think we should all show him more sympathy.

Can’t we just for simplicity agree that I am right and you are wrong :)

[Daphne – Pat, do the national newspapers in Sweden publish letters like these, from Swedes living elsewhere complaining about a petty refund from an airline, in the correspondence pages of the main newspaper, rather than – at a stretch – in the travel supplement? Just wondering, given that I don’t read Swedish. But I know I’ve never seen anything similar in the national newspapers published in London, though complaints about airlines and similar might get a mention in the Sunday travel supplements.]

The conclusion would be that it’s ok to rip off someone with a family member in need, as he should not take the time to complain. Perhaps it is, as it seems from the above, not the first time this upset the gentleman and having to deal with a hospitalised wife just pushed him over the edge.

Also, isn’t it remarkable that what they gave back to him was something that was not for them to give. They refunded the taxes, which will not be payable by Air Malta as he isn’t departing on the flight, so in reality Air Malta sold a seat, gained a further twenty Sterling and can still sell the seat.

[Daphne – The point is that claiming back STG175 from Air Malta doesn’t loom large on the priority list of the average person whose spouse needs a life-saving operation. In that situation, most of us (I would hope) would think in terms of ‘to hell with that’.]