The eclectic musings of a bitter software engineer.

Silly questions relating to air travel

Sunday February 22, 2004 @ 10:44 PM (PST)

I’m back in North Carolina. The trip is going much more smoothly so far.

I’ve been traveling by air pretty regularly ever since I was a wee little girl, and there are a few things that have always puzzled me (which I mention now only because they’re fresh on my mind after today’s trip):

  1. What is it that makes people drink tomato juice on planes? You don’t hear people ordering tomato juice in restaurants, but on planes, people drink it all the time. Today I even found that I had a sudden craving for tomato juice, which hasn’t happened before.
  2. Why do they put ice in tomato juice? Watered down tomato juice is disgusting.
  3. When stewardesses pop the tab on a soda can, how come they never finish the job? They always just pop it up and leave it sticking up in the air instead of pushing it back down like most people do. Is this something they learn at stewardess school?
  4. When a stewardess asks me if I’d like something to drink, why does she always look taken aback when I say “Yes, I’d like a Coke please”? Do I not look like the sort of person who would drink Coke on an airplane?
  5. How is it that a stewardess can spend five minutes helping the guy in front of me return his seat to its full upright and locked position and then completely ignore the fact that I’m reclining happily at a 45 degree angle? They never ask me to put my seat up. Or to fasten my seat belt. Are they trying to kill me, maybe?

Comments

I drink Tomato juice with my dinner sometimes, its great with a little salt and pepper. Although I too get a greater urge to drink it on planes.

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sapg
Monday February 23, 2004 @ 02:19 AM (PST)

Maybe the soda tab thing is to prevent some leakage if it gets knocked over by turbulance.

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atkinsc
Monday February 23, 2004 @ 08:39 AM (PST)
  1. I regularly drink tomato juice when it's available. It would be nice if it were an option more often. I don't think I've ever had tomato juice on a plane. (Mostly because I'm pretty sure they use from-concentrate.) Cravings may have something to do with tomato juice often being salted.
  2. Yes, watered down tomato juice is disgusting. Ask for it without ice.
  3. They probably leave the tab up because bending it back is an extra effort. With that many cans, it adds up.
  4. No idea. I usually ask for ginger ale.
  5. Probably because they try to concentrate on people that look more inept and needing help.
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digdug
Monday February 23, 2004 @ 08:41 AM (PST)
It looks like you're not the only one who has wondered about this. "Why does everyone order tomato juice on airplane flights? No one drinks it at home. [...] But yet, when you get on an airplane, it is a near certainty that someone within a 3-row radius of you will order tomato juice."

Also, I saw another page suggest that tomato juice has high mineral content. This may have some connection to pressure changes and/or jetlag stress.

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digdug
Monday February 23, 2004 @ 08:44 AM (PST)

I have seldom noticed this about tomato juice, but I notice it all the time about Ginger ale.

I've been traveling by air pretty regularly ever since I was a wee little girl,

When were you a little girl? I think there's a bit of your history you haven't related to us thus far...

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Eilonwy
Monday February 23, 2004 @ 09:05 AM (PST)

It was a joke. See, it's funny because you weren't expecting it. Ha ha.

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Monday February 23, 2004 @ 03:08 PM (PST)
Maybe you look like the type of person who would DO Coke on an airplane, or maybe you just seem somehow strangely dangerous...

Seriously though, there's no reason I know of to prefer tomato juice on a shorter flight. On the longer ones though, the caffeine in most drinks can act as a diuretic, making you want to pee more often, but a more electrolyte-laden drink like tomato juice will make you retain the extra fluid longer, making you pee less often.

That's also why most snacks are salty (pretzels, salted peanuts, salted almonds if you're in first-class, etc.)
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Uncle Jon
Tuesday February 24, 2004 @ 03:30 PM (PST)

...especially when you add in vodka. Or, better yet, bring a 5cl bottle of vodka (the $2 kind you can get at the store) and ask them for Bloody Mary Mix; then, just add-in your own vodka rather than pay them $5 for it.

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Trelane
Wednesday February 25, 2004 @ 06:01 PM (PST)

Seriously, I hope you're arrested the next time you try a stunt like that. It's against the law. How 'bout the next time you want a bloody mary, you show up w/ a buck 99 bag of candy for your flight attendants and say thank you and you know how hard they work and you thought they might enjoy this. I guarantee you'll get at least 1 free drink, if not two or three.

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Stewart S
Tuesday February 15, 2005 @ 11:41 PM (PST)
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