The rich luxuriate in first class while the rest of us survive in coach. Deal with it

To the editor: Robert Sapolsky’s op-ed article on air rage is a splendid exercise in reverse snobbery. (“When the rich rub our noses in their wealth, we get angry. But they go ballistic,” Opinion, July 10)

If there’s one thing the wealthy have a right to be annoyed by, it’s the non-wealthy’s presumption of moral superiority and feeling of “if you have it, then I’m entitled to it as well.”

There certainly is plenty to loathe about air travel, which used to be fun but now is increasingly unpleasant and degrading, from the invasive security measures to the flight attendants singing the praises of the airline to the tune of “Meet the Flintstones.” But the fact that the folks in first class have it better than we commoners in coach, after paying five times what we did, is pretty far down on my list of complaints.

I don’t begrudge the rich their luxury; people who do are silly and childish. My only problem with the privileged is when they seek sympathy over their privileges. On the plane, the “smell of warm cookies wafting back to the hungry in coach” is far less likely to upset me than the people in the back row who shout, “Thank you, Jesus!” upon landing.

Kevin Dawson, Los Angeles

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