Monica Hesse has an interesting story in today's Washington Post on ​a new breach of etiquette sweeping this great land of ours: the secondhand porn that travelers are subjected to as they, well, sweep across this great land of ours.

"Hey, kids, check out the cool homeless guy over there!" I said to divert young eyes away from the free Best of Skinamax feature playing directly in front of us.

By the way, do you know how difficult it is to pay attention to such annoyances as "red lights," "pedestrians" and "bumpers in front of you" while simultaneously steering, tricking children and closely monitoring someone else's monitor? To . . . uh . . . you know . . . catalog the inappropriate content for potential blog posts years later. Yeah, that's the ticket.

There's even a name for what I experienced: Drive-By Porn. Several states have passed or proposed legislation dedicated to preventing it, reports Hesse, whose story indicates Drive-By Porn is just a symptom of a much more prevalent phenomenon. 

It's practically a human rite of passage to have a roommate--a slobby college one--who loves Jenna Jameson. This, we know how to deal with. ("Dude, turn it off. My lab group's coming over.")

But the increasing popularity of laptops and handheld devices, and the prevalence of wireless Internet access, means there's a greater chance of becoming a bystander to a complete stranger's viewing proclivities. Like being exposed to the cigarette smoke of a nicotine addict on the street, people are inhaling secondhand smut.  

It's happening on planes, trains and automobiles, as well as on buses and subways and inside the terminals that serve all modes of travel, according to the piece.

Flight attendants are identified as being "on the front line of defense for any in-flight high jinks," with some having come up with strategies to keep sex in the cabins confined to whatever Mile High Club members discreetly do to one another. Some airlines have announced they are working on filtering in-flight Internet access to prevent the surfing of inappropriate content.

That reminds me, lap-dance loving laptoppers: there's something of a free wi-fi war heating up between Microsoft, Yahoo and Google, who keep trying to one up each other with announcements about free Internet access offered in airports, hotels and other heavily traveled areas during the holiday season, during which Virgin America--now flying in and out of John Wayne Airport--is also expanding its free WiFi access from Google and Gogo.

Why, it's the gift that just keeps giving. Hard . . . Yeah . . . Just like that, baby . . . Uh-huh.