The Hazards of Public Transportation

There were some interesting news items this week about the hazards of everyday travel. The first was a horrific item from Canada (see what socialized medicine can do?). Here's a quick summary from the AP:

Authorities are declining to provide other details of what they described as a “major incident.” But passenger Garnet Caton says the victim was stabbed 40 or 50 times by the man sitting next to him before severing his head with a large knife. Caton says other passengers raced from the bus and that he and the driver shut the door from the outside while they awaited police.

Can you imaging sitting next to someone on a Greyhound bus, not exchanging a word with them before they decide to stab you repeatedly followed by a spiffy sawing of your head from its neck? At the risk of sounding utterly inarticulate...that's fucked up.

The other item was about a woman on a Delta Airlines flight destined for Atlanta. She apparently went to the restroom mid flight, expired in there and wasn't found until they were cleaning the plane. I can't think of a more ignoble way to expire. I just hope the airlines didn't force her to pay the additional $25 baggage fee. Apparently, a small number of people die in airplane bathrooms every year. I'd like to think a mile-high angle would figure in this..if only for their sake.

It makes my daily commute seem downright pedantic.