Vacation, Day 4: Two Morsels

August 18th was pretty much uneventful; I flew up to Spokane, checked in to my hotel, got my convention ID at the convention center, and had a big, tasty bowl of black bean soup at a local Mexican restaurant. But there are a couple of minor items I'd like to mention.

First: I like a good ginger ale; it's second on my personal ranking behind root beer, and well ahead of any of the colas. (I love Vernor's in particular, but for some reason that brand is hard to find.) When I fly, when the attendants come down the aisle with the drinks cart, I almost always ask for a ginger ale - it has less aftertaste than other soft drinks, and it helps keep my stomach happy. Now, most of the time I fly American, which is, after all, the big dog at St. Louis airport. American serves Canada Dry, which is not one of the better ginger ales; it's OK in one of those little plastic cups, but it just doesn't work, being drunk from a mug alongside a meal. On this three-legged flight, though, I wound up flying United - and United serves Schweppes, which, it turns out, is one of the better ginger ales. I was pleased enough by this that, after I returned home, I looked for it at Shop'n'Save; they do sell it, and it has joined Diet A&W on the soft-drinks rotation chez Stoutfellow.

Second: this year's Worldcon set an attendance record. My flight into Spokane (and, I assume, many other flights that day and the next) disgorged a large number of con-goers. Unfortunately, Spokane "International" Airport only has four airport taxis, and it's half an hour's drive to downtown, so much waiting was in the cards. A taxi came by and announced that he could take up to four people, but when I told him which hotel I wanted, he said that would be out of his way, given the destinations of the other riders, and suggested (rather firmly) that I wait for the next one. I wandered back to the knot of fans and asked (using my classroom voice) if anyone else was going to my hotel. Only one other person answered. After some discussion, we decided to try to hijack one of the shuttles to a hotel nearby ours. When the desired shuttle appeared, we made our request, and he kindly consented. Both of us tipped him when we got off. (He was reluctant to accept my proffer, since the other fan had already given him something, but... well, I prefer to pay my own debts.)

The next day, the convention opened for business. That post, and the ones to follow, will be a skosh longer than this one.

Values

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has surprised a lot of people by accepting a large number of refugees from the fighting in the Middle East. Some people seem not to have understood what she's doing.

Merkel was given an honorary degree in Bern, Switzerland, the other day.  Following the ceremony there was a Q&A session.  “You’re doing a lot to help the refugees,” one woman asked.“What are you doing to protect our Christian values?”

My immediate response would have been to say something like, "I'm doing a lot to help the refugees. I'm protecting our Christian values by trying to live up to them."

But then, I'm not a politician. Her answer was more like this:

First off, she said, we in Europe should recognize that we are responsible for a lot of the misery in the Middle East. It’s not just that problems are coming to us. In some cases there are even IS fighters of German origin. “We can’t behave as if this had nothing to do with us.” Of course we have to arm ourselves against terror, but Europe’s history is so filled with gruesome confrontations, it seems to me, that we ought to be very careful when we complain about things going on elsewhere in the world. We have no reason for arrogance. “And I say that as German Chancellor.” The best approach to take in the face of religious people of another faith, she suggested, is to arm yourself with greater knowledge of your own faith.

Which is a pretty good answer too. Ms. Merkel is not one of my favorite politicians, but she's doing the right thing here. Not everyone is.

H/t to the Slacktivist