And It Taught Us All an Important Lesson about Holes

Slate's indispensable "Explainer" feature tackles the question this week of why people generally don't get sucked out of holes blown in airplane fuselages. (Topical, in terms of holes but happily not people getting sucked out of them. I should note optimistically that neither Maddie nor myself are irrationally fearful of people being suddenly sucked out of aircraft.) The really worthwhile read, though, is a Sydney Morning Herald story linked by Explainer, flight attendant Nigel Ogden's account of his rather unbelievable 1990 experience of holding on to a pilot half-blown out of the cockpit after the improperly installed windscreen blew out. Wild stuff. Keep that perspective next time you have a bad day at work!