Whenever taking an
airplane anywhere, remember how
boring it is in coach class. I always try to remember to take a
book or a few good
magazines (
C/C++ Users Journal is a good one), and maybe an
MP3 player of sorts to keep me company on the trip. However, due to
Murphy's Law, I always manage to bring a
magazine I've already read cover to cover, and I leave my
book and
MP3 player in the bag that got checked in, and not in my carry-on bag. So... What to do?
After scanning over the "What to do incase of an emergency" card, making sure I'm of age if seated next to an
emergency exit, and thinking about how great it would be to swap the emergency cards out with the ones from
Fight Club, you look to see what else is in the seat pocket in front of you. You will normally find, in between the
barf bag and some airline
magazine a SkyMall
catalog.
The SkyMall catalog is full of mostly
useless overpriced items. There are a few interesting items here and there, but I haven't seen any really truly useful that I couldn't get for half-price anywhere else.
The catalog does have almost
everything in it. Stuff from body pillows, to towel warmers, to meats, to alcohol, to world biggest crossword puzzle, to nose hair clippers, to reminders that calls on the
SkyFone are free if you place an order... I usually manage to flip through the catalog before the
airplane even takes off. However, during the
flight, I normally pick the catalog up and start reading page by page since it actually is pretty interesting. Interesting for sitting in a cramped space for a few hours anyway. It's a good way to waste an hour or so before getting served
peanuts and
soda and then trying to figure out useful ways to use a
barf bag.