In 2000 the editor of the Communications of the ACM asked me to write an article on the future of virtual beings. I had some reasonable idea of what I was going to write, but hadn't quite finished the introduction to my satisfaction. I was at the Philadelphia Airport waiting for a flight somewhere when I picked up a copy of USA Today that another treveller had left on a nearby seat. I only read USA Today in airports; it is one way to pass the waiting time, but I have to admit to never buying one. I don't remember the news that day, but the Life section had an article on travel amentities. And then I spotted it: the quote that would lead off my CACM article:

The angry woman with children in tow had some choice words for the theme park marketing director. Where were the live dinosaurs she and her kids saw in the park's TV commercials? She had paid good money, only to view fake ones.

USA Today, September 23, 2000: