I took the noon Jet Blue flight from Burbank to JFK last night and I’ve got the window and no one is in the middle seat. Sweet. The guy in the aisle is a little younger than me, I don’t pay much attention. Then I notice he’s surrounded by what are obviously his bandmates. I’m pretty sure I’m sitting next to the Strokes. (The guy on the far left is the one I sat next to. And he was reading Shakespeare. For real. One of the comedies.).

 

So I’m thinking: If The Strokes fly Jet Blue coach, what bands get to fly first class? The Strokes are obviously on official Stroke business -- they’re all together, they’ve got instruments in the overheads, there’s some British manager type with them. And they’re flying coach? Does this mean the Hives are shivering in baggage storage on a Southwest flight? Does Wilco have to bicycle to their gigs?

 

As we start to descend, I notice that there are lots of really small children near us in the back, making lots of noise, as children on 5 1/2-hour cross-country flights do. But the second Stroke from the left yells toward the back of the plane, “Everybody keep quiet!” It kind of scares everyone, including me, but after two minutes, the kids realize the Stroke isn’t really that powerful if he’s in coach, so they start making more noise. So the second Stroke from the left yells at them again. This time it has no effect whatsoever. One of the kids starts yelling, “Blah, blah, blah!” just to taunt the coach-flying Stroke. When we land the second Stroke from the left says that when he has kids they won’t act like that and if they do, he’ll get rid of them. “I wouldn’t want that in my life,” he says.

 

I’m just saying don’t marry the second Stroke from the left. At least until he gets some miles to upgrade with.