Word: delta
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...when my family planned a trip to the Mississippi Delta--"the cradle of the Civil War," in Paul Simon's words--I was skeptical of what I might find. After all, Mississippi seemed like the epicenter of the South: the Magnolia State, the second state to secede, the home of President Davis, the state that even today sports a Confederate banner on its flag...
...along the Delta, the docents at museums and antebellum homes seemed to share the same history book. At Stanton Hall, a graceful, pillared house in Natchez, Miss., our guide held forth enthusiastically on the building's period chandeliers, wallpaper and marble fireplaces. When I asked her how many slaves the Stanton family owned, she replied, "I don't know. About 500, maybe. But they all lived across the river...
What could explain this disconnect? Certainly not the real experiences of the present-day Delta, where racial integration was far more advanced than the plantations would suggest. As I drove from Memphis, Tenn., to Vicksburg and New Orleans, La., small details suggested that perhaps this was the New South after all--like the fact that all three cities have black mayors. Or the businesses where whites worked alongside blacks. Or the brand-new roads and schools serving mostly black small towns. The South being marketed for the tourists was far more reactionary than the real South just out the door...
...Delta Airlines may have to stop calling them "reservations." According to new Transportation Department statistics, the Atlanta-based airline leads the industry in passenger "bumping," having denied boarding to 8,144 passengers in the first three months of this year ? nearly as many as the other nine major carriers combined. As any traveler can tell you, getting bumped is a common enough occurrence ? it happens when airlines sell more tickets than seats on the premise that some folks won?t show up ? and airlines are required to compensate the bumpee with upgrades or cash equivalents. But if you absolutely, positively...
...Those carriers say it?s simple economics. When an average of 10 percent to 15 percent of ticket holders don?t show up, overbooking allows them to keep flights full (and airfares down). But Delta acknowledged Wednesday that it may be squeezing that penny a little too hard ? or simply miscalculating the no-show rate. New software that was supposed to fix that has apparently been delayed. But Delta also may have been right in suggesting that a few thousand bumpings do not a hated airline make. When it came to overall passenger complaints, Delta had the second-best record...