THE PERFECT ANTIDOTE. Cell-phone yakkers have long been annoying passengers on commuter and rapid transit trains for a long time. (Yes, such pests frequent the long-distance trains as well, but that's why there's a bar car, and sleeping accommodation on the overnighters.)

Now it is the airline passengers' turn, and Ideoblog (via Professor Bainbridge, check out the cross-referencing between two lawyers, it's really quite elegant) has a suggestion.

A self-help plan occurred to me a couple of weeks ago as I waited for a plane in the Indianapolis airport. Just across from me a guy filled the terminal with news of the accounting problems the university he worked for was having regarding a major gift, and how he was planning to deal with them. He was talking so loudly I could barely make out the details of the LLC operating agreement the guy down the row was drafting over the phone.

Here's my plan: do what you can to piece together the details of the conversation. Then ask the speaker some questions to fill in the blanks. If the speaker is annoyed, flustered and suddenly reticent, point out that you're curious enough to turn to Google for help with the rest. It would be nice if you could figure out your seatmate's name, from the conversation, briefcase, laptop screen, or whatever.

(I must confess to using a variant of this trick on an insurance guy on the Hiawatha recently, assuring him that his problems with an associate would stay a safe secret with me. He took his portable to the vestibule for his next call. And word has reached the Superintendent's office of a securities analyst who handed over a critique of his airborne seatmate's business plan ... although mobile phones are still not to be used, promiscuous use of laptops is common.)

London tube riders have a counter readily available. Annie at Going Underground recommends these cards. (Her example, which is posted on a secure server, is worth clicking to. I'll wait.)

Image courtesy The Cartoonist

Download your own (several styles are available) and keep them with your boarding pass and identification papers. I'm tempted to keep a set with my Metra ten-ride.