Flight, general election
Sick on a plane
I TOOK a Fiji Airways flight from Nadi to Melbourne last week.
Before even boarding the plane a passenger was projectile vomiting and which he continued doing long after the plane took off. While I had every sympathy for the passenger, I was surprised he was even allowed on the flight. To make matters worse for me was that he sat directly in front of me.
Who knows what illness he had and how it was spread.
It wasn’t until halfway into the flight the purser provided him with medication.
Two days later I took a Qantas flight from Sydney to Nadi. Soon after the plane took off I felt a sudden wave of nausea come over me. I rushed to the bathroom at the other end of the plane. I was quite ill.
I was made to stand in the galley area where all I wanted to do was to lower my head to my knees to get some oxygen to my brain but was told it’s a busy time and there are two food trolleys in the aisle.
I couldn’t help noticing the four oxygen cylinders hanging on the galley bulkhead and began craving for some. No chance. Instead, I was given orange hydrolyte powder to mix in to water to drink. No guesses the colour when I threw-up soon after drinking it. Food and beverage services are discontinued when there’s turbulence but not so for an ill passenger.
Three seats were cleared for me to lay down (probably the only three vacant seats as the plane was full to the brim) until we arrived. I was told to stay on board until the health officers arrive.
They didn’t and the cleaners needed to come on board to clean and they had limited time so instead I was told to disembark. No assistance was given to help me with my bags while I did hint that a wheel chair would be nice as I was feeling too weak to even walk the distance to the exit.
Health officers were outside and I was taken to isolation where I could be checked and treated.
Both flights were full and it was a Boeing 737-200 which accommodates around 170 passengers.
Should we expect better health standards than what I witnessed and treatment than that which I received?
It makes me sick.
JULIE SUTHERLAND
Tamavua
A numbers game
IT’S really a numbers game like a game of numbers.
For instance:
The number of the candidate you want to vote for.
The number of votes that candidate needs to win a seat.
The number of votes that candidate actually receives.
The number of seats in Parliament.
The number of votes a party requires to gain a majority in Parliament.
The number of votes a party needs to form government.
The number of members the ruling party needs in Parliament during voting, to remain as the government.
The number of votes the government needs to pass a motion in Parliament. The number of votes required to pass a bill.
The number of votes required to introduce and pass a motion of “no confidence”.
The number of votes required to amend the Constitution.
The number of votes required in a referendum for any constitutional amendment.
It’s really a numbers game about numbers!
EDWARD BLAKELOCK Admiral Circle, Pacific Harbour