Final destination

Something else I was introduced to over the weekend was the joys of internal US flights. It really is a bit like getting on a bus. If you don't need to check in any bags, you turn up maybe one hour, although even that is probably a bit too long, beforehand, swipe your credit card in a handy machine, and it prints out your boarding card. None of this "Did you pack your bags yourself?" business.

Security gave my passport a cursory glance, but the main sign that they're not at all convinced by their own security procedures was the "destination check" just before the plane pulls back from the gate. An announcement comes over the tannoy: "This is a destination check - this is United Airways flight 877 to Chicago O'Hare". OK, very good. But how could I possible have got this far onto the wrong flight? Are they expecting people to jump up saying "Oh shit, no, I'm meant to be going to LA - you must have failed completely to read that boarding card I just showed you in order to get on the plane..."?