Used to be flying was a comfortable way to go. But no longer. Hours waiting at the terminal, bag fees, the endless security lines, small seats, no legroom, no going to the bathroom one hour before landing, somebody sneaking a smoke and setting the toilet on fire, and now the airlines are considering a new seating arrangement that will jam more people into the same sized airplane. Yes, it’s coming, folks, pretty soon the face to face seating arrangement will be standard, and people will be jammed together like the proverbial sardines, the only difference between the passengers and the occasional casket in the cargo hold is the dead are far more comfortable.  I believe they wrote about this situation, way back at the dawn of the aeroplane, in a song called Come Josephine In My Flying Machine.

Come Joe Sardine in my flying machine

And it’s up we go, up we go

And no you can’t smoke

And the seating’s a joke

As it’s up we go, up we go

Oh, oh, a little bit higher

Oh no, the toilet’s on fire

Come Joe Sardine in my flying machine

Going up, so long, goodbye