Airline Tip -- This is so cool!

Last weekend, I was flying from Austin, Texas back to Chicago via Houston. As the plane taxied from the gate in Austin, the pilot stopped the plane and announced that we'd be sitting for a while due to weather conditions in Houston.

We sat there for only about fifteen minutes before taking off.
No big deal.

That got me to thinking about the recent Jet Blue flight where passengers were kept on the plane for eleven hours!

I cannot imagine how frustrating that would have been! I was on a crowded flight and had wedged my tall self between two other passengers.
Eleven hours of that? Hell on earth.

I've been stuck on planes before, but nowhere anything close to eleven hours.

Can you imagine being a parent with a baby on board? (And out of diapers? -- the mind reels)
Can you imagine having a case of diarrhea?
Or if you were a feeble, elderly person?
With diarrhea?
Can you imagine your poor grandma being held hostage like that?
Or if you were returning from Iraq and the person you were in love with was waiting for you?
And you had diarrhea?
I'm getting angry just thinking about that.

Here's a tip from a flight attendant that I read on MSNBC:

Simply call 911 and report a hostage situation. Seriously! Airline companies hate any negative news story.