I would say I'm among those who watch the "safety demo ballet" with only half an eye.
But....
I use the performance as cues for my own checklist, such as:
- where am I relative to the exits (not only the nearest one)?
- seatbelt good and tight? This may be my day for an RTO.
- how do I open the exits (hoping the safety card is clear enough)?
Nothing like a quick refresher course every time, not in the least because the aircraft type may be different, and I will probably be in a different seat, since the last time.
Two things I would still like to know, though...
1) How hard do I have to jerk on that oxygen mask thingie to get it to flow, without pulling the hose off?
2) Whom do I ask to borrow a dummy life vest to practise once for myself? It always seems such a clumsy process, that I feel perfectly capable of messing it up in an emergency.
(Oh, I know ditchings are exceedingly rare. But overruns into water do happen. So do ditchings of light aircraft.
And where I live, an unhealthy dose of seagulls into both engines is not an impossibility. In which case there is only one way, straight into the water.)