Jan Chipchase has a cool picture of the Taipei metro machine’s height gauge for children (children under a certain height can ride free), perhaps the most boring implementation of “you must be this high to ride this ride” ever.

In the post, the question of more price segmentation based upon human differentiation comes up and the question: “What is the likelihood that airlines will be the first to start charging more for passenger’s of ‘excessive’ weight? And given the sensitivity of this issue how will these surcharges be disguised?”

Well, bluntly they won’t. Southwest has had a “Customer of Size” policy, which is not surprising as the customers of no, or perhaps even negative size can warp the dimensions of the universe with their mind powers and have no need for such slow means of conveyance as “aerial movement through the nitrogen+oxygen sea that the earth dwelling humans refer to as: Domestic Flight”.

Actually, the name refers to passengers who cannnot fit into a solitary SouthWest airlines seat and must extend their bodies into a second snug, sometimes sticky, always odd smelling, pleather seat that is the norm on SouthWest airlines flights.

Personally, I can’t wait until there are more dynamic airline surcharges:

- $50 for excess “old lady perfume’

- $1/minute for crying baby

- $25 for each attempt at conversation when I’m really trying to sleep.

- $100 for showing me anything from the Skymall catalog while remarking: “I bet my Gloria would just love that FootTent!!, she has RLS something awful, the poor dickens.”

However, in fairness, the passengers should be paid for the airline screwing up as well:

- $50 for each 10 minute increment we’re stuck on the plane because “they didn’t tell use the jetway caught on fire earlier”

- $100 for accidentally backing over the giant electric cable they power the planes with to save on jetfuel, plunging us into darkness

- $75 for each gate change that requires a walk of over 15 minutes through people thronging the “Hotter Dogg!” eating place.

It only seems fair