This is a tangent, to be sure, but Jeff Kirby's pithy Nickelback story reminded me of this video, which is circling the internet this week for the umpteenth time.

The sombreros kinda make me puke, as do corny lines like, "I've heard all your excuses and I've chased your wild gooses," but as a piece of revenge and a cautionary tale, it's pretty satisfying and concise. The long and short of it is, this dude from a Canadian folk duo named Sons of Maxwell found the neck of his ($3500) Taylor guitar cracked as the result of airline baggage mis-handling. Two songs and over seven million YouTube hits later, United Airlines offered him a settlement to shut the hell up (which he hasn't) and Taylor Guitars offered him a couple of custom guitars as thanks for the free advertising.

But here's the thing, boys: a little insistence goes a long way. There are, in fact, laws that entitle you to carry your guitar on board an aircraft. I've never actually seen these laws, but every internet message board for musicians swears that they exist. More importantly, you have to insist that they exist. Airline employees are going to tell you you need to check your instrument; that's their job. But they can't force you to check it at the counter. At most, they can make you gate check it (right by the side of the plane, with the strollers and wheelchairs), which is vastly preferable and less damage-prone than checking at the ticket counter— no subjection to capricious conveyor belts, plus they know you're watching them. The majority of the time, however, you will be able to walk your guitar right on board.

Just my two cents. After all, I'd hate to see Chad Kroeger cry.