SINCE the invention of the wheel, several great mysteries have puzzled travelers. Where was Atlantis? What do the formations at Stonehenge mean? Why does the Leaning Tower of Pisa lean?
But there are other, evidently unsolvable, travel questions I find even more baffling:
* Along with ending poverty, war and pollution, why don't the nations of the world get together and agree to use just one kind of telephone and electric plug? There are about a dozen kinds of electric plugs, from the two-flat-pronged U.S. version to such seemingly eccentric varieties as one used in the Canary Islands that has three round prongs in a row.
England has its own three-pinned plug, unlike the two-pinned variety used just across the Channel in France.
Once upon a time, such inconsistency merely annoyed users of blow dryers and electric razors. But now, there are about 40 kinds of telephone plugs to contend with too, a headache for laptop users. The plugs come in so many bizarre shapes and sizes that you'd need a tool kit to establish dial-up Internet connections on a multiple-stop trip around the world.
Blame the proliferation of plugs on differing standards. "Up until the 1970s, most electric and telephone companies were state monopolies," said Steve Kropla, whose Internet site, www.kropla.com, helps travelers hook up their laptops on the road and identifies which kinds of plugs are used where. "They just developed their own systems."
So much for globalization.
* In a scene from the 2001 movie "Hannibal," the debonair mass murderer and cannibal Hannibal Lecter is seated on a plane, eating a homemade meal of beluga caviar, figs and brains, presumably human. When the flight attendant serves a standard airline meal to his seatmate, Lecter says: "It isn't even food, as I understand the definition. I always travel with my own."
Most passengers would agree, especially in coach. But why is it so hard for airlines to serve appetizing meals, even if no more complicated than salads and sandwiches?
These days, you're lucky to get snacks and beverages on an airplane, and even those might not be free. Generally, only passengers on long-haul flights and in first class can expect a hot meal.
