The Wings-Fall-Off Button

One of our favorite Far Side cartoons shows a goofy-looking guy seated on an airplane, and on his armrest, next to the volume controls, is a toggle with two positions: one labeled "Wings Stay On," and the other labeled "Wings Fall Off." We just know this guy is going to switch it to the "Wings Fall Off " position because, first of all, he's goofy looking, and second, he isn't paying attention.

Who in his right mind would design a plane with a "Wings Fall Off " feature?

The sad thing is, this is airplane version 2.0. The first plane this engineer designed had only a "Wings Stay On" button, which had to be held in manually the whole time the plane was in the air (except when the wings were to fall off).

An Extreme Programming project with manual acceptance tests is like an airplane with a "Wings Fall Off " feature.