# Have you ever been underwhelmed? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 25, 2024, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-underwhelmed/1010764 "2024-11-25T16:43:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-underwhelmed/1010764/81 "2024-11-26T14:37:42Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > > [@TruCelt](#): > > > > Flying first class. The seat was comfy, sure, but if you don’t drink alcohol you are not going to get too much for your money > > Yes, it’s crazy expensive. But as a tall person it’s worth it. Economy is torture. The free drinks are nice, the service is better and the food is actually much improved over the years. > > I just think of it as starting the vacation right when you get on the plane. I’ve flown first/business class a number of times. Flew to Dublin with Premium Economy and it was actually very comfortable on Delta. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-underwhelmed/1010764/82 "2024-11-26T14:47:23Z")
> [@Ellecram](#): > > I’ve flown first/business class a number of times. > Flew to Dublin with Premium Economy and it was actually very comfortable on Delta. We always used to get the stretch seating. But it’s not always available. If the flight is only 2-3 hours, I can do economy. But I often have no choice. An 8 hour flight is gonna be First Class. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-underwhelmed/1010764/83 "2024-11-26T14:49:45Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Anyway, I had long heard that they put on a spectacular live show, but the one I did see was, yeah, underwhelming. I had the same experience with Van Halen. > > Must have been an off night both times. Well, I mean…they are in their seventies. I’m sure they were great once upon a time (I’ve never seen Cheap Trick, but I’ve heard a couple of old live performances and they sounded pretty tight), but I never expect much from geriatric rock acts. Some blues and jazz artists can keep going deep into their twilight years. But the loud, aggressive music of youth doesn’t usually translate very well into the age of creaky knees and sagging guts IMO. There are certainly exceptions and I’ve seen some pretty frenetic rock shows by cats in their fifties. But sixties and seventies not so much. I’ve pretty much given up going to see legacy rock acts at this point, the nostalgia isn’t enough of a draw. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-underwhelmed/1010764/84 "2024-11-26T14:53:48Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > > [@Ellecram](#): > > > > I’ve flown first/business class a number of times. > > Flew to Dublin with Premium Economy and it was actually very comfortable on Delta. > > We always used to get the stretch seating. But it’s not always available. If the flight is only 2-3 hours, I can do economy. But I often have no choice. > > An 8 hour flight is gonna be First Class. Absolutely. Anytime I fly to Europe it’s going to be in a comfortable seat. Short hops are OK if it’s not too long. Some flights do not have more comfortable options depending on the airline. My cousin is a retired United pilot and I used to love flying on the “buddy passes”. Although waiting until the end of boarding to see what was available could sometimes be a problem. Years ago flying used to be a treat. Now it is an underwhelming necessity. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-underwhelmed/1010764/85 "2024-11-26T15:01:22Z")
Tastes are subjective, but still, some of these posts! How can you be underwhelmed by Hawaii? Maybe everyone has too high expectations, I dunno. “I went to the moon, and it was all grey and empty. BOOOOORING!” And then I read this > [@Gatopescado](#): > > but it seemed like each large room was illuminated by a single 40-watt bulb suspended 20 feet in the air. You couldn’t see shit! Dark as the inside of an Elephant! > > Would it kill us to turn on some lights??? and I remembered. Space Center Houston. You’d think that the NASA museum, in Houston fercripessake, would be THE premier space museum. They should get all the best stuff, and all they have to do is wheel it across the parking lot. But it doesn’t! It’s got a bunch of exhibits that wouldn’t overwhelm in the Podunk Children’s Science Museum. And it is terribly run. (The subtour to the actual Mission Control was cool, but for the amount of tourists they get, you’d think they’d get an elevator for everyone. I think it’s four floors of narrow stairs.) And dark! How about some lights, people! I spent more time making sure I didn’t walk into people (and was not always successful) than looking at the exhibits, that’s how dark it was! For comparison, air and space museums where I was NOT underwhelmed, far from it, AND they have adequate illumination: Kansas Cosmosphere US Space and Rocket Center, Huntsville Museum of the Air Force San Diego A&S Smithsonian (PS I liked the Hope Diamond across the street, too 🙂 ) Pima A&S National Aviation Museum, Pensacola War Eagles Museum, Santa Teresa, NM Museum of Flight, Seattle Evergreen, McMinnville OR (the Spruce Goose!) EAA Museum, Oshkosh South Dakota Air and Space SAC Museum Castle Museum Tellus Science Museum, Cartersville, GA Now, I’ve never yet been to The Big Show, KSC, but, I am prepared to be underwhelmed. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-underwhelmed/1010764/86 "2024-11-26T15:11:41Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Now, I’ve never yet been to The Big Show, KSC, but, I am prepared to be underwhelmed. I’ve not been in ~~years~~ decades. But the real problem with all of NASA is that their heyday was 60 years ago. They’re still in business, but everything they’re famous for is ancient and raggedy and small. The machines are huge, but the human facilities were cramped and still are. What they don’t seem to have is the budget to make 60-year old stuff look cool or look recently repainted. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-underwhelmed/1010764/87 "2024-11-26T15:12:37Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > Poutine. I figured that since it is so popular that it rises above the humble ingredients. It does not. Gravy makes the fries soggy and those whatever they are chunks did not taste like any kind of cheese I am familiar. Oh, that’s a good one. The cheese curds taste like other cheese curds I’ve had, but i really felt like the whole was less than the sum of the parts. > [@Gatopescado](#): > > > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > > I hate to say this, but: New Orleans. > > I imagine New Orleans as Vegas with 90% humidity, bad smells (see Mighty Mouse’s post above) and flying cockroaches. I’m pretty sure I don’t want any part of it. It’s not as hot, it’s not as aggressively noisy/smokey, and the food is better. At least, i found it a lot easier to get excellent food in New Orleans than in Vegas. But it’s weirdly segregated. I was there with a Black colleague, and everyone stared at us, because even in a town full of tourists, 3 white women and a Black woman who were obviously together was clearly remarkable. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-underwhelmed/1010764/88 "2024-11-26T15:16:19Z")
Whenever someone talks about flying first class it’s important to distinguish between US domestic, local around Europe, trans-Atlantic, or serious long-haul like polar or trans-Pacific. There is almost nothing in common between a US airline first class ride from e.g. Chicago to Las Vegas and a US airline first class ride from e.g. Los Angeles to Hong Kong. And the trans-Pac experience is utterly better yet again on the better Asian carriers over the US ones. Or for the ultimate experience, the subsidized Arab carriers. A friend of mine & his business pal recently went _business class_, not first class, trans-Atlantic on Emirates. They each drank over $1K retail of vintage French wine on the 7 hour flight. They’re big drinkers, but that was not cheap wine they were served. From a wine list with about 30 varieties. And they ate two severely wonderful meals in very spacious and gracious surroundings. And a shower onboard. the best part was they even got transportation to Europe out of the experience. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-underwhelmed/1010764/89 "2024-11-26T15:17:26Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > Poutine. I figured that since it is so popular that it rises above the humble ingredients. When I was in college about 50 years ago, my Canadian classmates always ordered their fries with brown gravy. So I tried it, and it tasted like fries with brown gravy. So last year when I was in Ontario, I tried poutine. It tasted like fries with brown gravy with cheese curds as a topping. I probably won’t ever try it again ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-underwhelmed/1010764/90 "2024-11-26T15:22:15Z")
I’ve had good poutine and bad poutine. The difference, IMO, is in the freshness. In good poutine you are served immediately after the fries come out of the fryer and the gravy poured on. Those first few bites are delicious. Even just a few minutes later and it starts to taste stale. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-underwhelmed/1010764/91 "2024-11-26T15:22:31Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > What they don’t seem to have is the budget to make 60-year old stuff look cool or look recently repainted. For what they charge for admission to Houston, they could afford a few light bulbs! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-underwhelmed/1010764/92 "2024-11-26T15:26:58Z")
Malibu, CA. Heard my whole life that’s where the entertainment industry’s rich & famous liked to live so it must be really beautiful there. Staying in Santa Monica decided to drive up the coast and check it out. Just felt crappy and run down. The coast line was packed shoulder to shoulder with homes in various states of run-down, under construction, outdated, expensive. Thought maybe the nice homes were up in the hills. Driving up there was like driving through a quarry. Rocky, not many trees, kind of ugly. Not sure why you’d want to live there besides privacy in the hills or an overpriced beachfront property. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-underwhelmed/1010764/93 "2024-11-26T15:38:19Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Tastes are subjective, but still, some of these posts! How can you be underwhelmed by Hawaii? Maybe everyone has too high expectations, I dunno. I live in a place that is just as expensive as Hawaii. Fabulous views from my deck too. The Manta Ray thing was cool. Hiking the caldera was very much like the surface of the moon. It was interesting, but other wise a slog of a hike. The fruit with the food was good, otherwise just ok. I’ve been to a number of tropical vacations. Hawaii just didn’t do it for me. I’m really not a beach person either. We did do a boat tour that was pretty cool. Also a downhill bike ride that kind of sucked. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-underwhelmed/1010764/94 "2024-11-26T15:42:09Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > When I was in college about 50 years ago, my Canadian classmates always ordered their fries with brown gravy. My wifes from Pittsburgh. It’s very typical to see a salad with fries. The fries in the salad. 🤨 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-underwhelmed/1010764/95 "2024-11-26T15:53:31Z")
Setting aside the overcrowded places or the “were new and cool but are now just old and tattered” places there’s another factor. If you’ve never seen tropical turquoise-blue water and very light to white sand it’s pretty amazing. But anyone in the last ~75 years has seen hours and hours of professional film or video of exactly that. When someone like that finally does get to see it for real, it probably isn’t quite as perfect a day, or as clean a beach, or … as the conditions shown in the average vid they’ve seen. So yes, it’s real not just a pic, but also yes it’s familiar and hence underwhelming. What we’re all lacking is the wide-eyed amazement of seeing new sights that we’ve never seen the likes of before. The poor farm boy’s first train ride to the big city used to be an amazing life-altering immersion in a totally unfamiliar landscape. Now that kind of kid will have spent 15 years watching cities on TV before that first fateful visit. Lots will still be _different_ from home and different from his accumulated vicarious experience of cities in general. But all that it will be a difference of details, not of kind. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-underwhelmed/1010764/96 "2024-11-26T15:56:32Z")
> [@goodkitty](#): > > Huge line around the block. > > …about a 1 hour wait I’ll add a general class of things, “Anything where I have to line up for an ungodly amount of time”. I hate waiting in line, and I don’t think I’ve ever had anything that turned out to be worth the waiting time. This is the main reason I’ll probably never visit any of the major theme parks. The amount of waiting that appears to be required for relatively short rides means they will almost certainly disappoint. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-underwhelmed/1010764/97 "2024-11-26T16:01:18Z")
I’m in a similar mindset. If it has more than a trivial line, I don’t need it that bad. As to theme parks, nowadays there’s an app for that. Where you can reserve a time and not stand in line. Or for an extra fee, just jump the line. Meaning only total chumps will simply stand in the mostly non-moving line as half or more of the ride’s throughput is absorbed servicing the paid line jumpers and the reservations. Of course once everyone has the app then we enter that 21st Century tragedy called “When everyone is special, nobody is special.” ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-underwhelmed/1010764/98 "2024-11-26T16:04:22Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > The coast line was packed shoulder to shoulder with homes in various states of run-down, under construction, outdated, To be fair, the good side faces the ocean. which is the point of living there, and many are nice on the inside. > [@Hampshire](#): > > expensive. Got no argument from me there! I’d live there, but only if I didn’t have to go out regularly, like to a job. Work from home, yeah! Some days, you just can’t get in or out of your own driveway for the traffic. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-underwhelmed/1010764/99 "2024-11-26T16:10:02Z")
Having grown up along the SoCal coast, albeit not Malibu, I can say that in the 1960s when most of the cliffside houses were first being built traffic simply wasn’t an issue. SoCal defined generously now has almost 25M people in it. Back when it had 10M (or 5M!) it was a very nice place with lots of space for nature _and_ lots of space for everyone. Not so much now. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-underwhelmed/1010764/100 "2024-11-26T16:12:58Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Of course once everyone has the app then we enter that 21st Century tragedy called “When everyone is special, nobody is special.” Yep, that’s the other problem. I have some friends who recently did a major trip in Europe. One of them mentioned that there was a line up to get into the first class lounge at one of the airports they had a layover in. Kind of defeats the whole purpose of the first class lounge. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-underwhelmed/1010764.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-underwhelmed/1010764.md?page=6)