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In the same way that could ideas can hit us with the full force of revelation, making us say "why didn't someone think of that before - it's so simple!", a bad idea can be equally hard-hitting, causing us whiplash as we indignantly exclaim, "My God, what a profoundly stupid proposition. What staggering heights of idiocy can have ever have fathomed it otherwise."
Coincidentally, it was an idea that is conceived for "staggering heights" that recently elicited the latter response from me. Budget Airline Ryanair is said to be investigating the possibility of installing coin slots on the passenger toilets of its aircraft, requiring that they spend more than a £1.99 more than a penny for the privilege of, well… spending a penny.
Ryanair has confirmed as much, with chief executive Michael O'Leary telling the BBC it was looking into the idea.
But public whiplash about the idea seems to have prompted the airline into being less clear about their plans for the idea.
Steven McNamara, Ryanair's PR executive, comments, "I don't think it's going to happen in the foreseeable future".
"Will it happen long-term, I'm not really sure," he said.
However, he did not altogether rule out the idea, saying, "It's one of those things that when Michael starts looking at something, you know, it's always up for discussion."
"One thing we have looked at in the past, and are looking at again, is the possibility of maybe putting a coin slot on the toilet door."
Unfortunately, McNamara's assertion that "I don't think there is anybody in history that has got on board a Ryanair aircraft with less than a pound" completely jars with my personal experience.
It also defies common sense. Many people, after all, like to empty their pockets of extraneous coins and currency before embarking on travel. Ever-tightening baggage restrictions have made us lighter travellers than ever, and an increasing reliance on the integrity and convenience of plastic money systems have made good old-fashioned hard currency redundant for many jetsetters, budget or otherwise.
And really, how on earth would such a system ever work? Would the airline take a strict zero-tolerance approach to enforcing the money earner? I hope not. One can just imagine the indignity and embarrassment of trying to ask a stewardess she would be so kind as to unlock the door.
"How badly do you need to go?" she might say.
"What do mean, how badly?"
"On a scale of one to ten, how difficult is it to hold in?"
"Ouch, ooooo, about an eight."
"And is it a number one or a number two."
"Number two."
"Hang on, let me just check with the pilot. Hello captain, I have a passenger here with a scale 8 number two - 800 miles from Lisbon, I see… Yes, I'll tell him.
"Sorry, scale 8 number twos must hold on until Lisbon."
And imagine the scope for personal injury claims. What if a desperate and empty-pocketed passenger felt compelled to pee out the window. It would bring a whole new meaning to the meaning of "mile-high club". Such an event could very easily result in a plane accident.
There are other concerns too. People with certain medical conditions would be unfairly hit by the capital-raising scheme.
It could also herald that most unexpected of things, the international airline beggar. Travelling up and down the aisle saying, "Oh, I'm ever so sorry to disturb you but could you spare a few pennies? My bladder's bursting. Here, look, I'll even resurrect the wee-wee dance I used to do when I was three."
It would bring a whole new and ironic dimension to begging: the well-to-do rather than the hard up begging for money in order to excrete rather than eat. Oh, the moral maze…
But seriously, there would surely be far too much public whiplash for such an idea to ever proceed, wouldn't there…
