November, 1996 (continued):
The highlight of my last day in Rome was the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) luncheon, featuring exceptionally well-prepared, melt-in-mouth moist salmon.
That evening I took a taxi from my hotel to the airport. I found myself growing increasingly nauseous during the 45-minute ride.
Despite what you might have heard about Italian taxi drivers, it wasn’t due to my driver’s driving style. I am prone to motion-sickness.
Mom's Choice: Ginger Plant
My Choice (Sorry, Mom)
My mother, who enthusiastically embraces non-traditional treatments of health problems (i.e., she’s suspicious of anyone who currently is a member of the American Medical Association), long ago had suggested I try taking ginger root as a preventive for motion sickness.
For a couple of years I successfully used it instead of Dramamine (the most common over-the-counter motion sickness medicine), but after a while it seemed to lose its effectiveness for me.
Knowing it would be a long taxi ride (through Rome, which means narrow streets, fast turns, and many sudden starts and stops), however, I had tried to prevent such discomfort by once again taking some ginger root.
Sorry, Mom, but it didn’t work.
At the airport — after staggering out of the taxi and taking some Dramamine — I boarded an Austrian Airlines flight to to Vienna.
Just before take-off, the crew gave the standard pre-flight safety instructions. Those instructions were immediately preceded by an Austrian Airlines jingle (clearly from one of their commercials) played over the in-cabin speakers:
“You are flying/You are flying/You are welcome/You are welcome/Austrian Airlines welcomes you.”
I had not previously encountered an in-flight jingle.
