ohbythebay
New member
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- #1
Phones service on airplanes ? Hmm....
If you have ever been a frequent commuter on a train or bus, you will understand there are certain unwritten codes and etiquettes people follow. One of those is being quiet. Not everyone follows the rules and it can be quite annoying to have an infrequent or just plain rude traveler who does nothing but "gab" the whole time. A 45 minute trip can seem to take an eternity as an otherwise quiet vehicle is held hostage to "the talker".
One of the worst is the "phone talker". Not the "quick call" to say "I'll be home in 30 minutes for dinner". That can be tolerable. I am talking about the person who takes or makes a call and then proceeds to tell the other party their life story. Sometimes with pretty graphic details. I really don't care about someone's recent colonoscopy or how Joanie's nephew got caught with drugs again. It may be important to them, but for me, cats squalling in a bag would be more tolerable.
Then there are those who spend that same duration but really don't have anything to say. They are passing time. So what you hear is the most trivial non-conversation of all. "What's new? Nothing. Did you have lunch today ? What did you have? How is your mom? Where the dogs good today? ". Endless drivel with no worthy content other than to help the time pass for the person on the phone, and time stretched to eternity for the innocent bystander trapped in the grips of the black hole time dilation. Einstein was right.
So now take the current topic of adding that torture (which should be added to the Geneva Convention of NOT ALLOWED) to in-flight calls. We have all been the target at one time or another of screaming children or the loud talkers right behind our seat. In general however; flights will stay predominately quiet. This will end forever when the floodgates are opened and the cell phone is allowed in-flight.
In this day and age, people are attached to their phones closer than a babies umbilical cord. unfortunately, there is no doctor nearby to quickly cut the cord. People who can't even stand in line at the grocery store without their phone glued to their ear like a bionic appendage. These same people will now be sitting next to you or nearby, talking endlessly for hours as you try to just pass the time on your 6 hour flight. You may not survive.
You can stare at them with a mean face, but they will just ignore you with their sense of justification and entitlement because the airline said "It is allowed". The flight attendant may be enlisted to help keep their voice down however; there is a big difference between silence and a low, constant conversation. I know Delta has already said they will not allow it (thank you Delta) but what of the other airlines? You will really be left to the mercy of your own personality type. If you are more reserved, you will probably suffer in silence praying in your mind that they suffer an embolism (a quite one) that will stop them - interesting dropped call scenario. But the odd's of your prayer coming true are less likely then perhaps one of two things:
1) You have a psychotic break and kill the talker
2) You excuse yourself to the lavatory and slit your wrists
Being more outgoing, I would probably opt for number one however; if there are more talkers than you can possible slay with the airline supplied plastic spoon, then option two will have the more sure results. It would be a shame to have the psychotic break, kill half, then have to listen to the other half call their friends and tell them about the "nut job" on flight 72 that went postal.
In a nutshell, we tend to live in a rude society where people feel their individual rights always supersedes the rights of others. Expecting phones on an airplane to be a non-issue would be like expecting no fighting over towels on Black Friday. Its a happy thought but not in touch with reality.
BAN CELL PHONES ON PLANES . ORG ...LOL
If you have ever been a frequent commuter on a train or bus, you will understand there are certain unwritten codes and etiquettes people follow. One of those is being quiet. Not everyone follows the rules and it can be quite annoying to have an infrequent or just plain rude traveler who does nothing but "gab" the whole time. A 45 minute trip can seem to take an eternity as an otherwise quiet vehicle is held hostage to "the talker".
One of the worst is the "phone talker". Not the "quick call" to say "I'll be home in 30 minutes for dinner". That can be tolerable. I am talking about the person who takes or makes a call and then proceeds to tell the other party their life story. Sometimes with pretty graphic details. I really don't care about someone's recent colonoscopy or how Joanie's nephew got caught with drugs again. It may be important to them, but for me, cats squalling in a bag would be more tolerable.
Then there are those who spend that same duration but really don't have anything to say. They are passing time. So what you hear is the most trivial non-conversation of all. "What's new? Nothing. Did you have lunch today ? What did you have? How is your mom? Where the dogs good today? ". Endless drivel with no worthy content other than to help the time pass for the person on the phone, and time stretched to eternity for the innocent bystander trapped in the grips of the black hole time dilation. Einstein was right.
So now take the current topic of adding that torture (which should be added to the Geneva Convention of NOT ALLOWED) to in-flight calls. We have all been the target at one time or another of screaming children or the loud talkers right behind our seat. In general however; flights will stay predominately quiet. This will end forever when the floodgates are opened and the cell phone is allowed in-flight.
In this day and age, people are attached to their phones closer than a babies umbilical cord. unfortunately, there is no doctor nearby to quickly cut the cord. People who can't even stand in line at the grocery store without their phone glued to their ear like a bionic appendage. These same people will now be sitting next to you or nearby, talking endlessly for hours as you try to just pass the time on your 6 hour flight. You may not survive.
You can stare at them with a mean face, but they will just ignore you with their sense of justification and entitlement because the airline said "It is allowed". The flight attendant may be enlisted to help keep their voice down however; there is a big difference between silence and a low, constant conversation. I know Delta has already said they will not allow it (thank you Delta) but what of the other airlines? You will really be left to the mercy of your own personality type. If you are more reserved, you will probably suffer in silence praying in your mind that they suffer an embolism (a quite one) that will stop them - interesting dropped call scenario. But the odd's of your prayer coming true are less likely then perhaps one of two things:
1) You have a psychotic break and kill the talker
2) You excuse yourself to the lavatory and slit your wrists
Being more outgoing, I would probably opt for number one however; if there are more talkers than you can possible slay with the airline supplied plastic spoon, then option two will have the more sure results. It would be a shame to have the psychotic break, kill half, then have to listen to the other half call their friends and tell them about the "nut job" on flight 72 that went postal.
In a nutshell, we tend to live in a rude society where people feel their individual rights always supersedes the rights of others. Expecting phones on an airplane to be a non-issue would be like expecting no fighting over towels on Black Friday. Its a happy thought but not in touch with reality.
BAN CELL PHONES ON PLANES . ORG ...LOL
