A woman was spotted lying inside an overhead luggage compartment on a Southwest Airlines flight from Albuquerque to Phoenix on May 6.
So we all know airplane travel has gotten so much worse in the past 20 years. From almost-zero legroom, to practically no food offerings on domestic flights, to lost luggage, to crazy passengers yelling about masks during Covid-19, to a lot of other things … flying has gotten significantly less fun. To that end, passengers sometimes take matters of comfort into their own hands.
But I have to admit I’ve never seen anything quite like this. On a Southwest Airlines flight from Albuquerque to Phoenix on May 6, a woman actually climbed into the overhead compartment and squeezed herself in.
That’s right, who needs chairs that recline, I can get a whole area to myself? Oh, I’ll just push those pesky jackets and small suitcases to the side, plenty of room here to take a nice little snooze.
I wouldn’t have believed this story actually happened, but of course there’s video, because if YOU saw a woman lying down in the overhead compartment, wouldn’t you get your phone and start filming? Of course you would.
The flight attendants asked the woman to get down and she took her seat. Can you imagine the claustrophobia of lying in that coffin for an entire flight?
**Next up, Jon Stewart has been back on “The Daily Show” on Monday nights for a few months now, and I’ll admit I’ve missed some of his return. But I caught this on the Interwebs the other day, on the whole “cancel culture” idea, especially as it relates to NFL kicker Harrison Butker, who got in hot water over comments he made at a commencement speech at a private Christian college (my take: Who the F cares what a no-name NFL kicker says at a private college ceremony? I think this story has been way overblown).
Anyway, Stewart was terrific here. So good to have him back analyzing/mocking the news.
**And finally today, the dangers of AI continue to terrify me, because of how it can so easily be used for nefarious purposes.
Just listen to this story from famous actress Scarlett Johansson, who was approached about her voice being used for a new product. From this Washington Post story:
Johansson declined. In May, two days before OpenAI planned to demonstrate the technology, Altman contacted her again, asking her to reconsider, she said. Before she could respond, OpenAI released a demo of its improved audio technology, featuring a voice called “Sky.” Many argued the coquettish voice — which flirted with OpenAI employees in the presentation — bore an uncanny resemblance to Johansson’s character in the 2013 movie “Her,” in which she performed the voice of a super-intelligent AI assistant.
When I heard the released demo, I was shocked, angered and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily similar to mine that my closest friends and news outlets could not tell the difference,” Johansson wrote.
“Mr. Altman even insinuated that the similarity was intentional, tweeting a single word ‘her’ — a reference to the film in which I voiced a chat system, Samantha, who forms an intimate relationship with a human,” she added.”
Just awful. And deceitful. Altman has since apologized, but of course the Sky system is already out there. The damage is done.
I’m terrified of AI.
Wide World of Stuff 