About two years ago or so, I noticed a shift in airplane norms.

It used to be you’d walk on a plane and all of the windows were open. As people got seated, a few would close their windows, but most would be left open during the flight.

Fast forward, and now whenever I walk into a plane, all of the windows are closed. And most people, as was the case when they were open, don’t pay much attention or venture to change them by opening them.

So now, where we used to be able to have the context of seeing what was happening on the ground at the airport and let our minds wander while looking out at the clouds or the country down below, we now get to be holed up in a dark, claustrophobic tube, hurling through the air toward what we hope is our destination.

Let’s open the windows, people. Natural light is your friend, and the plane is small enough without calling more attention to it by closing all of the windows.