Sneaks on a plane

To attend my sister's engagement, I flew from Delhi to Hyderabad. Towards the end of my flight, just before the cabin lights were going to be turned on, I noticed that a reading light in the row behind me was on, and another man was reading a book in its light. I longed to see the cover of the book and find out its title, but I didn't get that opportunity.

I wondered how many other people on the plane were reading. Was this man and myself the only people out of about 180 passengers on the plane? I decided to find out. I lifted myself slightly above my seat, and counted that 15 reading lights were on at that time.

I assume most of these passengers were reading on the plane, and that's why they had their reading lights on. This means that about 8% of flight passengers read on the plane.

I take comfort in the fact that it's not just 1 out of 180, but it's 15 out of 180, and that I am not the only oddity, as some people would have me believe.

We readers might sneak into our bags and pull out our books while the others are asleep in the semi-darkness, but we believe that it's productive and more efficient to learn or entertain ourselves while we relax and travel, don't we?