Working the Farnborough air show, backwards and in high heels

Posted by John Keller

FARNBOROUGH, England, 19 July 2010. There are plenty of amazing here at the Farnborough International Airshow -- reportedly the largest air show in the world this year. Jet fighters, bombers, widebody jumbo jets, aircraft stunt teams. Still, nothing is more amazing to me here than the number of women wearing high heels -- and not just any high heels, but really tall ones.

Working this show one can literally walk miles in the course of a day. Those minding the booths are on their feet all day -- and these are long days -- and I can't imagine many more torturous things than to do it in high heels.

The ladies wearing those really tall heels don't look like they're in pain yet, but I should give them time; it's only 11 a.m. I'll check facial expressions again later in the day, but my bet is most of them will be looking fresh as ever.

I'm reminder of Ginger Rogers, the dancer of movie fame, who often was paired with Fred Astaire in some of the silver screen's most breathtaking dance numbers on film. Folks always seemed to wonder why Ginger Rogers always seemed to play second-fiddle to Astaire.

Rogers fans often asked why she didn't have equal billing to Astaire, since she did everything he did -- except she did it all backwards and in high heels. Seeing all these women at the Farnborough air show remind me of Ginger Rogers. They're probably working at least as hard as the guys, except they're doing it backwards in high heels.

So as I stroll the aisles and static displays this week, I'll be looking for more than just the latest avionics, the most advanced jet fighters, and the biggest commercial jetliners. I'll also be looking for women wearing sensible shoes.

Stay tuned; I'll let you know.