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Published on July 30, 2007

Imagine your reaction to being told there is a bomb on your flight.

That was the feeling of Northwest ground crew last week when they learned a departed flight with 142 people on board was carrying a bomb. The Thai News Agency reported last week that Northwest flight 980 from Seattle to Memphis had been ordered to return to Takoma Airport minutes after takeoff.

And how would you then react to learning that the person responsible for this information was a passenger who had missed the flight and wanted it to return for him?

Thirty minutes later, the flight departed again for Memphis without any further news of the passenger. I for one would like to teach him a lesson that will make sure he never uses the word "bomb" again.

Card carry-on

It is morally certain that anyone old enough to apply for a credit card has had a strange experience with one, positive or negative.

I don't know which this is.

According to Associated Press last week, Manhattan accountant Frank Van Buren has had an ExxonMobil account for his business for 17 years. Weeks before his card was about to expire, he ordered two new copies.

Instead, he found himself flooded with plastic. He got the cards he requested - plus two boxes of 1,000 cards each.

All bore his name and account number and, he surmised, could all be used. It took him hours to shred them. Annoying indeed in its way, but much less annoying than not being able to ditch your card-issuer despite numerous attempts.

This happened to a friend of mine. Whenever she tried to contact the issuer, an employee came up with another argument for keeping membership. One year passed. She seldom used the card. Next year she contacted the company for termination. Useless. Driven to drastic measures, she shredded the card and sent the pieces to the company. They never phoned back, which was a relief.

achara_d@nationgroup.com