Living in Excess

I pick seats near the front of the plane so that I can get off quickly in case there is little time to catch my connecting flight. I get an aisle seat because I like to be able to get to the bathroom without making one or two others get up; likewise, I enjoy the awkward moments before those on the inside seats work up the nerve to ask to get out. I don’t mind moving—it’s nice to stretch—but I would feel strange asking a complete stranger if they need to use the potty.

This seat gives me a great view of first class—the elite seats. I rode first class once; they upgraded me after forcing me to stay in Minneapolis overnight. I moved to put my coat in the overhead containter and the chubby male flight attendant, JoJo, took my coat quipping, “honey, you’re in first class. We hang coats on hooks here.”

I wondered what other practical luxuries I would enjoy. They hang the coats? Totally worth paying more than 200% of the ticket price for.

Well that isn’t fair. They get a meal, alcohol to the point of unruliness, a slightly wider seat, a few extra inches of legroom, and sometimes DirecTV…oh…and a hot towel.

My round-trip flight from Reagan International Airport to Portland International Airport, with layovers in Houston each way, was around $550 during the holiday season. I had the option of paying around $850 extra to fly in first class, making the total $1400, minus the charge for checked baggage. So the meal, alcohol, big seat, legroom, and DirecTV are worth $850 per 7 hours of flying? That is about $120 extra per hour.

There is also the advantage of getting on and off the plane first, but that really doesn’t mean less time on the plane because they have to sit and wait while the coach passengers get on. The sitting and waiting inevitably turns into displays of iPads, Kindles, or just look-aheads as if the first class passengers were drivers trying to avoid letting someone in their lane.

I’m perplexed at how such exorbitant prices only add up to miniscule rewards—even more, how could someone pay that much for so little willingly?

I was recently asked how someone could be considered too rich. Instead of making a moral determination that suits my limits, I will ask a few questions. I think that most would have somewhat polarized answers to this enigma that would demonize willing purchasers of first class tickets. Is it shameful to spend money on that when there are so many poor and hungry people in the world? If you are offered the seat for free, should you accept it, or is it best to give it to a mother with a baby in tow or an elderly person? Those questions, while reflecting morally upright attitudes about helping others in need (social justice, Christianity, etc.), can be used to judge or portray someone as wicked.

If you work and earn the kind of money that can afford first class, why shouldn’t you go for it? What place is it of someone whose income doesn’t reflect the liberty to spend that much to judge someone who can easily spend 200% more on a ticket and still meet all of the needs of her/his lifestyle?

Illustrated another way, I’m typing on a MacBook, which cost a pretty penny when I bought it two years ago. Surely there are less expensive computers that would get the job done. My Banana Republic chinos certainly perform the same function as an old pair of Levi’s, and they may only last the same amount of time before wearing out. It isn’t hard to criticize someone’s purchases when in our world people literally don’t have food to eat or clean water to drink.

Even someone on welfare might occasionally splurge on a bag of Doritos and meet mumbles of criticism at the checkout stand. “How can he spend our graciously given tax dollars on junk food?” We all have different ideas of excess, which I hope doesn’t just sound like the lame, non-confrontational, tactful response of a future Episcopal priest. I think that rather than condemning people for spending or not spending on this or that has proven unconstructive so far. Perhaps we all could use an attitude adjustment—I know I need one sometimes.

If we are going to help the suffering people in our country and the world, maybe the best way to start is by working together.

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