Steven Lubet warns us that something new has been added to good old piquant Texas food (“Notes from deep in the heart(burn) of Texas,” Op-Ed, June 15). That is, if you want to eat like old times, you have to pay 25 cents for a jalapeno pepper. Lubet is rightfully outraged.
I have another example of unconscionable charges, this courtesy of the airlines. In years past, when my unattended 8-year-old grandson flew alone to meet us in Florida, we paid an adult fare, and that was that. Today we’re told if my 8-year-old granddaughter flies alone, we must pay an additional $60 “escort” fee.
What is the purpose of this? Is the airline going to hire an escort for her? Is this outrage being perpetrated because a flight attendant will accompany her to her seat, without which the child would undoubtedly be sitting on the outside of the wing? Or is an escort going to sit beside her to see that she knows how to eat a so-called lunch?
In the past, the flight attendant has always walked an unattended child up and down the boarding ramp and deposited the child in the hands of a designated friend or relative. The airlines evidently think that this courtesy is a good excuse to raise the cost of a ticket for a child by as much as $60 or more.
What next? Will they charge senior citizens an “escort” fee to see that they know how to get off a plane?
