The Popcorn Stand: Coming soon to a theater near you, ‘Mouse Trap’

This isn’t exactly “Of Mice and Men” but it’s the harrowing story of how the best laid plans aren’t realized in the case of an ultimate role reversal. Passengers on a plane being trapped by a mouse.

It seems passengers on a British Airways flight were forced to endure a four-hour delay after a mouse was discovered on a San Francisco-bound airplane on Wednesday. I understand why the plane couldn’t take off because of the mouse. And at first I couldn’t understand why it took four hours to catch the thing? Taking so long to remove a mouse sounded like a Mickey Mouse operation to me. I wonder if they sent in the Mouse Squad.

But actually a mouse on a plane is a serious matter. Mice can chew through wiring, so when rodents are found on a plane, flight crews need to perform thorough checks before the aircraft is deemed safe for travel.

No word on if the mouse was given a refund or given the option of being placed on a latter flight to San Francisco.

And the passengers also took the delay in stride, understanding the humorous nature of the situation.

But I can see the Hollywood production now. In the tradition of “Airport” and “Snakes on a Plane,” will be the harrowing story of how passengers were trapped by a mouse on a plane. The movie’s title can’t be “Mice on a Plane” since there was just one mouse. “Mouse Trap” has a good ring to it.

I have to admit, though, if I’m ever a passenger on a plane this scenario is a cat-and-mouse game I could do without.

— Charles Whisnand