I guess most of us have been there. You are finally moving off stand on an aeroplane, and they then persist in telling you that the emergency exit is on one or other side of the plane, it may be behind you, and that in the event of a loss of cabin pressure, please save yourself before your children. Occassionally, I do look around, and apart from those looking at the flight crew to see if they make an amusing mistake, lots of the plane are already into their crossword/magazine, or counting down to when they can switch back on their music player or other gadget. Some may even be chatting about the evening ahead.
We flew to our holiday last week on Thomson Airways, and it started with the same rigmarole, even with the air hostess asking us to watch it carefully. And then, the video showing the safety features of the plane was acted out by a 7-year old girl, with all the "passengers" on the video also more likely to watch CBeebies, or perhaps CBBC than BBC1. Same words as always, but somehow having a child's voice made it more urgent, more worth watching, and probably held all our attention much better than I can remember happening before. And the 2 seconds where they tried to avoid the toys falling out of the overhead lockers should be on Youtube, if it isn't already.
It was a good example for me that the way you deliver a message, as well as the meaning of it, can have a big impact.
