micro machines airlines

the flight i took to pittsburgh this easter past, though quite comfortable and punctual, was on a comically small plane. i flew american eagle which, contrary to pedestrian attempts at humor, is not a casual outfitter, rather the regional and commuter line of american airlines. everything about this plane was small. as you can see, each row had two aisles, one with two seats, one with one seat. i got to sit in the aisle of one (which i think is the name of a counting crows song), and it was pretty nice, actually.


when the flight attendant, who measured roughly 4'9" by the way, pulled out the snack cart for our complimentary cruising altitude luncheon, she had to yell ahead, "watch your arms and legs! watch your arms and legs" with the same cadence eric idle had in the "bring out your dead" scene from holy grail, for the cart had an aisle clearance of less than one inch, and it's passing was reminiscent of cruise ships going through the panama canal. then, to top it all off, we got a little bag of zygote size pretzels. here is a picture of one next to a penny for a sense of scale:


when i was leaving, i was a bit taken back (and i'll admit it- a little sad) when i saw the pilot was full sized. it would have been nice if he was a little shorter than average. like 5'6". or, perhaps, if he were comically large, like manute bol-sized. or, best yet, if he actually was manute bol.