Alone on a plane...

The following is from a site for the book biz called, Shelf Awareness...
"'If they hadn't been able to get books, I think they would've been quite frustrated.'--Jonathan Daniel, the supervisor of a Borders store at Heathrow Airport, in a Los Angeles Times article about business travelers' reactions to not being allowed to take laptops as carry-on luggage on flights to or from London yesterday. Daniel noted that 'laptop-free travelers' were among the store's best customers; popular titles included Freakonomics and The World Is Flat. It was unclear whether the travelers could take the books on planes or whether they read them during the long waits."

In fact, I was just listening to NPR and they were saying that in flights out of London, you can't take anything with you, other than your wallet and your passport. It would really be a drag not to be able to take a book on a flight. To me, there's not much that's more relaxing than knowing that I have a few uninterrupted hours to get lost in a good read.

But what bothered me most about that article wasn't the possibility of being separated from my favorite author, but the sentiment that so much working time will be lost now that laptops aren't allowed on planes! We are a society gone either maddeningly stupid or stupidly mad. So many of us have forgotten how to detach from work. Very few offices seem to respect "vacation" time anymore. Yeh, you're not in the office, but if they can call you on the beach or up in the mountains, are you really away from it? Is your spirit regenerating the way it was supposed to? I don't think so. And really, is what most of you are doing, all that important? No offense, but I doubt it. We're all racing like crazy, day in and day out, but to where? I haven't managed to spot any finish line yet. What's the damned rush? Why are we so consumed with work? Fischlipps thinks it's because most of us aren't doing anything we think is really worthwhile, so we rationalize that we're too busy...just can't get around to it. Well, your next plane ride might just be your chance. While you're sitting there with no computer, gaze out the window and daydream. Talk to the person next to you. Make a list of things you want to do, and start carving out the time to do them. I can't go so far as to say that this averted horror might be a blessing in disguise, but while you're sitting there, maybe you can come up with a better way to put it.