took the red-eye from the west coast
sat next to a businessman in an overcrowded flight.
he got up every hour to go to the bathroom.
EVERY HOUR.

read Mary Roach's extremely funny book
Stiff: Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
which at one point talked about the best
way to survive a plane crash is
to be male

because men have the brute strength
to push everyone else out of way
combined with the survival of the fittest instinct

seems reasonable...except..

in an article in this week's Time (may 2, 2005)
(um, hello..this week is still april, but that's another topic)
"What the science of evacuation reveals about how humans
behave in the worst of times"

basically, it says that most people simply don't react at all
in the face of "clear & urgent danger."
we freeze.
some in disbelief.
some waiting to be told what to do.
some just shut down.

and interesting, women are "quicker to evacuate than men"
(ok sweetie, the plane is on fire, you probably should force open the door and get out)