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Diary

Ben Schott's diary: Travels with a magic umbrella

Plus: surgeon's cuffs and souls in transit

12 December 2015

9:00 AM

12 December 2015

9:00 AM

Flying home to New York, I noticed a disturbing innovation in pre-flight cabin announcements. After the welcomes, exhortations, and promotions the purser itemised the number of passengers (205) and crew (12) on board. Presumably, this is for the ‘black box’ recorder — so the correct complement of dental charts can be assembled should gravity win.

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Ben Schott is the author of the Schott’s Miscellanies and Schott’s Almanac series.

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