Friday Smiles 337: a final trip to the Museum of World Treasures

It's Friday and time once again to join Annie (at A Stitch in Time) and the ladies at Friday Smiles.  Although it took over 11 months to go through the Museum of World Treasures, I bet you're happy we have finally seen everything on the second floor.  Now for this group of funnies I found when cleaning my office last year.

Occasionally, airline attendants make an effort to make the in-flight safety lecture and their other announcements a bit more entertaining. Here are some real examples that have been heard and/or reported:

 

“There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there are only 4 ways out of this airplane.”

As the plane landed and was coming to a stop at Washington National, a lone voice came over the loudspeaker: “Whoa, big fellas. WHOA!”

After a particularly rough landing during thunderstorms in Memphis, a flight attendant on a Northwest flight announced: “Please take care when opening the overhead compartments because, after a landing like that, sure as hell everything has shifted.”

“Weather at our destinations is 50 degrees with some broken clouds, but we’ll try to have them fixed before we arrive.  Thank you and remember, nobody loves you, or your money, more than Southwest Airlines.”

“Your seat cushions can be used for flotation, and in the event of an emergency water landing, please take them with our compliments.”

Once on a Southwest flight, the pilot said, “We’ve reached our cruising altitude now, and I’m turning off the seat belt sign. I’m switching to autopilot, too, so I can come back there and visit with all of you for the rest of the flight.”

“Should the cabin lose pressure, oxygen masks will drop from the overhead area. Please place the bag over your own mouth and nose before assisting children or adults acting like children.”

“As you exit the plane, make sure to gather all of your belongings. Anything left behind will be distributed evenly among the flight attendants. Please do not leave children or spouses.”

“Last one off the plane has to clean it.”

Heard on Southwest Airlines just after a very hard landing in Salt Lake City. The flight attendant came on the intercom and said, “That was quite a bump and I know what ya’ll are thinking. I’m here to tell you it wasn’t the airline’s fault, and it wasn’t the pilot’s fault, it wasn’t the flight attendant’s fault. It was the asphalt!”

Another flight attendant's comment on a less than perfect landing, “We ask you to please remain seated as Captain Kangaroo bounces us to the terminal.”

After a real crusher of a landing in Phoenix, the flight attendant came on with, “Ladies and gentlemen, please remain in your seats until Captain Crash and the Crew have brought the aircraft to a screeching halt against the gate. And once the tire smoke has cleared and the warning bells are silenced, we’ll open the door and you can pick your way through the wreckage to the terminal.”

Part of a flight attendant’s arrival announcement, “We’d like to thank you folks for flying with us today. And, the next time you get the insane urge to go blasting through the skies in a pressurized metal tube, we hope you’ll think of us here at US Airways.”

And from the pilot during his welcome message, “We are pleased to have some of the best flight attendants in the industry. Unfortunately, none of them are on this flight.”

Last week my friend Valerie said she didn't like war museums.  This was not a war museum, but a museum that houses many treasures from around the world, including artifacts of wars.  Unfortunately we often refuse to admit what we have learned from past wars, and because this museum is so HUGE, that floor was where I spent all my time.  However, as Sally and I were about to leave, I took a few photos from the first floor.

One of their draws was this display of dinosaurs found all over the world.   The Tyrannosaurus-rex may have been the biggest draw for the children.

Why they chose to spotlight them with this horrible pink/purple light is beyond me.

I never miss this display, a section of the Berlin Wall.  At 11 feet (3,35 meters) tall, this cold piece of solid concrete was a symbol of the Cold War.

It is so massive, I was unable to get it all in one photo.  It's obvious this is the West Berlin side

and this is the East Berlin side, where guards stood watch so people didn't try to escape to the west.

According to the web site:

The Berlin Wall divided East and West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, completely barring West Berlin from East Berlin and surrounding East Germany. This wall forced families apart, and stood as a constant reminder of the political strife in Germany. Its demolition started in 1990 and took two years to complete.  

The sign on the right, written in several languages, explains that you are now entering the American Sector and carrying weapons while off duty is forbidden.  You are also warned to obey traffic rules.

The sign on the left, also written in several languages, denotes that you are now leaving the American Sector.  Unfortunately, I couldn't read the other information that included photos.

This display of military and camouflage equipment was from the DDR, which was part of the Eastern Bloc from 1949 to 1990 during the Cold War. 

The final display was about how one day families who woke up on one side of Berlin were cut off from family on the other side.  The general consensus was the wall was mainly a means of preventing the citizens of East Germany from fleeing to West Berlin.  As a rule, the border was only closed for citizens of East Germany traveling to the West, but not for residents of West Berlin traveling to the East.

These truly ARE the final images I have for this museum.  As you can see, there were lots more things that could have been seen had I not concentrated on the various wars on the 2nd floor.