A
long while back I made a crack about how much I
wish there was some kind of Maxwell Smart "Cone of Silence" available on planes so that I don’t have to
listen to the soul-chilling wails of someone’s distraught baby as I fly. I was chastised a bit by angry readers who
apparently felt that it was my duty as a fellow human to tolerate the cries of the baby and the parents who were doing
little to quiet him. (That really is the rub, after all, that the parents weren’t doing much to keep him quiet).
Anyway, I still dream of that cone of silence, and ,in fact, if I knew I was being seated next to a crying in fact, I
would gladly pay for it. Or better, I would pay for my own section where no crying babies are allowed. And while we’re
at it, no sickeningly obese, smelly, talkative, people either. So there.
Well, this is apparently not a
novel idea. In fact, as
WAPO’s Keith L. Alexander reports in this piece, it seems that many folks would
also willingly pay to be free of such burdens, as well as to be provided with various amenities such as an extra
carry-on bag, better food, or (God forbid) unlimited alcohol. This seems to me a wonderful idea. You get what you pay
for and if you want more, it’s yours. If you’re like me, you cold care less about eating that horrid airline food and
could easily pass on the peanuts if it means saving a few bucks.