Image Credit: Gerald Friedrich, Pixabay

By Mel Rothenburger

Armchair Mayor

ROTHENBURGER: Sorry, but whining travellers don’t deserve much sympathy

Dec 20, 2021 | 4:16 AM

IT’S HARD TO SYMPATHIZE with all the complaining travellers who seem to think the pandemic is the government’s fault.

Every day, it seems, there’s somebody on the news who got stuck in a foreign country and is having trouble getting home due to travel restrictions, or who has gotten home but is having a problem with isolating.

People can’t be blamed, I suppose, for not being able to keep up to the ever-changing ground rules — so to speak — for flying. Restrictions to and from various countries come and go as variants rage and attempts are made to slow down the spread. Requirements on quarantines rise and fall. Testing ebbs and flows.

Just on Friday, the feds reintroduced the requirement for a negative PCR pre-arrival test, including for those leaving for less than 72 hours. That comes into effect tomorrow.

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At the same time, the travel ban to 10 African countries was removed as of Saturday night.

Right now, fliers are complaining about the food and accommodations they must endure while waiting for test results. And about lost luggage. And about laundry not being done to their specifications. And about hallways covered in plastic. About poor ventilation. And poor communication. And, of course, about having to be tested.

“Wretched,” said one world traveller. “Dystopian,” said another. “We feel like criminals,” said another.

My heart bleeds for them. I might have thought these folks might be grateful that our government is taking measures to keep them and those they come in contact with alive through this pandemic. I might have thought they’d be just fine with a little inconvenience in return for being safe.

Obviously, such things are irrelevant in the face of plain food and poor laundry service.

Since that’s the case, how about they just stay home for Christmas? The federal government has re-issued an advisory against non-essential international travel.

Maybe those hard-done-by whiners should listen to that advice for a change.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.