It’s strange that I’m inclined to write more in this blog when I haven’t actually got internet access from this machine! However I heard something interesting and disturbing on the NZ news today. A Kiwi man, called Mark, was telling his story about being asked to swap seats with a woman on a Qantas flight. Mark was seated beside a young boy originally but Qantas (along with Air New Zealand and several other carriers) consider adult men to be paedophiles. There is a specific policy not to seat children beside adult men (travelling separately) because it puts the child at risk. Mark got caught in this humiliating position because this policy wasn’t implemented until everyone was seated and the flight was underway. While protecting children is paramount, why is it that someone must be treated in such a dehumanising manner? Why is a man demonised in this way? If an airline made a similar judgement call for people from certain countries or races what would the reaction be?