PW: Once on a flight I sat next to an off-duty pilot and I asked him if he ever got nervous as a passenger. In essence, he said never. What do pilots think about guys like me?

JB: If that was the only question you asked (I mean, if you didn’t then follow up with a lost bag story), he was probably thinking about how he’d gotten away with the lie he’d just told the polite, interested guy sitting next to him (not the jerk with the lost bag story). Pilots like to be in control, like to know what is going on, and are pretty sure they’re better than that slug at the controls up front.