The Internet had a freak-out recently over something that doesn’t exist – and, hopefully, never will. Zodiac Aerospace, an airline seat manufacturer, patented a design that squeezes more coach seats onto a plane by turning the middle seat backward, facing the rear of the plane. Imagine flying on a six-hour flight, while trying to avoid eye contact with your seatmates.

As we’ve discussed before, airlines and seat manufacturers are constantly looking for new ways to add seats (the newest are slimmer in design, with less padding). Some are ingenious, while others, like the backward seat, were born out of sadistic minds, intent on adding further punishment to a much-maligned experience called air travel. It makes the non-recline seats of Spirit and Allegiant look tame.

But, as with all tech, patents are simply ideas, and most will never make it off the drawing board. But as the industry continues to look for creative ways to generate more profit (pushed in part by Wall Street), let’s hope they never revisit these concepts.