Can anyone pls help explain this Al Gore quote? Thank you.

Oh, that's funny!

Most people look pretty bad in most government ID cards. I don't like to show my driver's licence photo to anyone, for example. And passports, at least in the US, are notorious for having terrible photos.

There's another famous quote: If you look like your passport photo, you're too sick to travel.

So the annoyances and hassles that come with air trave

Thank you so much, Grammar Geek. In fact, the same is true of the first batch of ID card photos made in China, as the net image in the foreground makes everyone look like behind bars. I guess Gore has been spoiled by his upper class travel life. He could have changed his 'airplane travel' into 'railway travel' had he ever spent a night on a hardseat train in China.

Really, are passports so terrible in the U.S.? I have a good-looking photo on my Indian passport.

It's just a commonly accepted joke. Mine isn't terrible.

It's just that most people get their photos done for passports in photo booths - and you tend to come out looking a bit startled/badly lit/odd expression because you've been holding for the photo to get taken. Also, in the UK, they used to have a rule that you weren't allowed to smile at all in your passport photo - so you looked miserable! It's nothing to do with the quality of the passport - ju

Neeraj JainReally, are passports so terrible in the U.S.? I have a good-looking photo on my Indian passport.

Ummm..that doesn't happen too often. Let me see...

Is this a compliment to the person who took your picture? the camera? or the person in that picture!

AnonymousThank you so much, Grammar Geek. In fact, the same is true of the first batch of ID card photos made in China, as the net image in the foreground makes everyone look like behind bars. I guess Gore has been spoiled by his upper class travel life. He could have changed his 'airplane travel' into 'railway travel' had he ever spent a night on a hardseat train in Chin

Yes; during long flights, you can always feel your face beginning to take on that cavernous, faintly eruptive "mirror with fluorescent strip lighting" look.

It seems to work differently with the in-flight attendants, though. They just go very taut and pink and shiny.

Is it the special training?

MrP

That was an accurate assumption. The unforgettable stone-hard seat is what I experienced almost ten years ago in China. Nowadays most trains are already air-conditioned with improved individual space. But, as you may know, population problem always gives you headache wherever you travel in China. As a result, public transport vehicles, including imported ones, seem to have been designed specifica

I guess they look good because they are earning money with the flight for which we have to pay.

BY the way, how can i retrieve my password for this forum? I forgot my registered email address as well.