You know the feeling: the pilot announces that you've hit cruising altitude. You turn on a movie, and just as someone on screen peels their clothes off or starts spewing blood, a flight attendant ...

For some, it's the last real taste of innocence, and the first real taste of life.

This past weekend, I slid into an assigned seat on what I think was the biggest airplane I have ever been on. Stuck between a window and a stranger for a flight over the Atlantic, I decided to seize ...