Letters: Cellphones may be a pain in the neck, but they sure can get you out of a jam

We loved reading Elliott Hester’s “Fly Guy” article about flight attendant predicaments (“Layover Hotel Scares,” Oct. 7), especially the new-hire flight attendant being locked out on the balcony.

My husband and I had a similar situation. We were in Monaco on a driving tour of Europe. When we arrived at the Marriott, there was no valet, so my husband parked by the entry.

I got out with the luggage, and Bob took the car to the parking structure. I went to the room and waited and waited and waited.

Forty-five minutes later, he entered our room. Apparently, it was a secure parking structure. He parked the car, walked toward the exit/entry to the hotel as directed by the parking attendant, opened a big steel door, which was actually an emergency exit door that closed and locked behind him. After exploring the hallways, he found that all exterior exits were chained and locked. No hotel telephone — and he didn’t speak French. What to do?

He had both cellphones, so he couldn’t call me, and he didn’t know the address or telephone number of the hotel. He called our daughter at home in Palos Verdes. She called the front desk at the Marriott, and they came and rescued him.

Thank goodness for cellphones. From a closed and locked hotel garage in Monaco to a home in Palo Verdes to the front desk of the hotel.

Jean Lawrence, Beaumont

The ‘best’ drivers?

I must take issue with Catharine Hamm’s characterization of Los Angeles, and by association, other California drivers as “stinkers” (“Leave Risky Driving Behind,” On the Spot, Sept. 30). I would have to say that we are the best in the world, or else we would all be dead.

We can cut in and out of lanes with amazing skill, sometimes just a hair’s breadth from one or more vehicles without leaving as much as a scratch on them. And we can do it fast. We can come within an inch or two of the car preceding us without worry. That’s called tailgating. Just hope the guy ahead doesn’t hit the brakes too hard.

And speed. No one goes a day without breaking the law by cruising far beyond posted speed limits. It seems to me that the guiding principle for most of us is “nobody gets ahead of me.” Yes, some folks are bound to get hurt or even wiped out as the result of our efforts to be the best drivers in the world. Let’s not dwell on that, please.

Should one wait for the green light?

William A. Harper, San Diego

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