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Senators Propose Bill Prohibiting Phone Calls On Planes
SonicSpike writes with news that two U.S. Senators, Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), have proposed legislation to ban cell phone calls while aboard an airplane. This follows a recent announcement from the FAA increasing the range of electronic gadgets travelers can use while flying, and a vote by the FCC to consider allowing phone calls during flight. However, even as those government agencies work to lift regulations on in-flight technology, the Department of Transportation is pondering a in-flight call ban of its own, saying it might not be "fair" to consumers to have to listen to other passengers talk on the phone throughout a long flight. FCC commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said, "If we move beyond what we do here today and actually update our rules to allow voice calls on planes we can see a future where our quiet time is monetized and seating in the silent section comes at a premium."
Are they going to ban them in restaurants next? Movie theaters? What an idiotic premise!
since its ok to talk on a cell phone, ok for my kids to vocalize themselves as well
And that's different from talking with the person next to you how, exactly? If people can't respect basic social manners, they won't respect them regardless of how. If it's not a phone it'll be something else. This is why we have personnel on board the airplanes.
Do they really have nothing more pressing to deal with than legislating common courtesy?
Not cell phones, but there have definitely been phones available. Some planes even had handsets embedded in the back of the headrests.
Also, I have always left my phone on in flights. It doesn't get a signal at altitude, and definitely not over the middle of the ocean. It's really only when you are near takeoff or landing.
"Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"
If you can make phone calls on a city bus you can make phone calls on a plane.
I've seen plenty of phones on planes before, but I've never seen them used to actually make calls. Probably because they cost a shitload.
So, just have a fair warning to consumers, that each call will cost $10 a minute (via various methods, including text messages to those phones that are turned on). Then, only those people who actually have a pressing need will use the phones in flight. Solves the problem for me.
Moreover, if noise worries you, then get a pair of earplugs. And/or don't fly (the engines are almost always the noisiest thing on airplanes for me).
HELP MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HACKED BY AN ILLIBERAL ART STUDENT SET TO DESTROY THE INTERWEBZ!
I think a better solution is that once you've achieved cruising altitude that passenger can petition for a vote of all passengers to have specific annoying passengers literally thrown off the planes. No parachute, just a good heave. As annoying cell phone users are - shouting in their phones, etc. - seat kickers, loud drunks, crying babies and others deserve some sort of retribution too.
Very often, people confuse simple with simplistic. The nuance is lost on most. - Clement Mok
quiet time huh? don't fly much?
If the person next to you is talking on the phone just join in. Comment on what they say, ask what the other person said, etc. Someone rude enough to have a phone conversation in a crowd won't catch the sarcasm, but at least you'll annoy them as much as they annoy you.
What's difference between talking on a phone and talking to someone I am traveling with as far as noise disruption?
Because of low (or absent) sidetone on cell phones, people tend to speak much more loudly than they would in a regular conversation. Additionally, if the connection is poor people tend to shout. This is why most people find cell conversations disruptive.
I don't agree with the bill, but there is a difference to the third-parties.
Firstly, everyone talks louder on the phone. They don't realize it and deny it left-and-right, but they do. Add to that, they will be compensating for the engine noise so it's going to be a lot of "can you hear me, what about now, is that better" So you have increased volume.
Second, you have the issue of "half a conversation" messing with your brain. Hearing another conversation isn't so bad, hearing only HALF the conversation (the guy on the phone) and your brain tries to piece together w t h they're talking about or what the person on the other-end-of-the-phone is saying. It's an automatic thing, so it adds to the annoyance.
Lastly, not too many people talk to their strangers / neighbors for more than a few minutes. Sure people talk, but for the most part people just want to veg out and rest / read / watch the movie / etc. Bring in the phones, and LOTS of people will be talking.
Personally I'm fine with the way planes have been... the talking is at a minimum so I can at least try to get some rest. Instead now you will have people going on and on about mundane stuff.
At least... hopefully the teens and younger will be Texting instead of calling... so I don't have to hear all of the "Oh My Gawd did you see what she was wearing" BS.
I commute to and from New York City on a train every day. I've seen fights almost break out from rude people yapping on phones. Allowing phone calls on planes is a very bad idea. Nobody wants to listen to other people yap on a phone during a three hour flight.
People get agitated enough being cramped into small seats with no leg room. Lets just add to the agitation my making the person next to you annoy the hell out of you by yapping on the phone to their friend.
Is this even feasible? with most flights you're 5-7 miles above the ground. IIRC, cell phone signals radiate mostly parallel to the ground. Can you even get a cell signal in a plane? I don't fly much, and the times I've had I never turned my cellular radio on in my phone.
How about we respect the fact that the plane is the property of the airline and let them set policy accordingly. I mean holy crap on a cracker Batman, civility will break down because someone is talking (at most likely) conversational volume on a cell phone on a long flight that already has cranky and cramped adults, babies and drunks.
Airline keeps half. The rest is distributed to the people sitting next to the person making the call.
Both Alexander and Feinstein have issues that they'd rather the media not look at right now. Alexander's chief of staff was just arrested on child porn charges, and Feinstein...I don't think I have to mention, here on /., why people hate Feinstein.
So they've come together with a "you know that thing that people really hate? Let's ban it!" bill meant to get their names in the headlines next to something they think people will like. It's just a stunt. Pay no heed to it.
Everything is better with chainsaws.
They are charged with deciding whether allowing cell phones is safe, not the pros and cons of passenger convenience/inconvenience.
From another article:
Nick Calio, the president and CEO of Airlines for America, testifying Thursday at a House hearing on the aviation industry, said regulators should determine whether allowing cellphones to be used for voice calls in flight is safe and should leave further decisions up to the airlines.
“If they do so, we believe the decision should be left up to individual carriers as to whether they want to institute a policy or not,” Calio said. “In considering that, they’ll consider the safety of their passengers and their crews and customer input.”
That sounds right.
I use foam ear plugs and sleep through most flights. I stay up late, crash on the plane perhaps with the help of some Dramamine, and I don't care what the other passengers do.
Let them have their communication so I may have mine when I wish.
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
I can't overexaggerate how much I love the zone of silence in my daily bus and train rides, or the pristine calm of the city sidewalks.
Give me a fucking break. Suddenly the Senate is concerned for my delicate ears? More likely: an airline was cutting a deal with a carrier to sell AirTalk (tm) in-flight voice at $3.99 a minute and doesn't want to be undercut.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
For fucks sake, if it's not a safety issue that we don't need laws about it. We are adults and contend with this in tons of other planes in our lives and can self regulate in a airplane. There is nothing magical about being in an airplane that makes us better or worse then off an airplane.
Oh, God! That's all I need. Cramped in a tin can with a pack of bored nitwit talkers for a five hour flight to the west coast. There is absolutely no need for this at all.
But then there will be all of the amusing fights that will surely follow. Maybe I ought to get an upgraded device to record videos. :)
Yeah. I've changed my mind. Allow cell phone calls on a plane.
As a Dem, I can understand some members of the party seeing a need for this, but I'm shocked that Lamar Alexander is co-sponsoring this. So much for anti-regulation republicans. While I agree that voice calls should not be permitted in planes, there is no reason to legislate this. It is very reasonable that in the future there may be airlines dedicated to business passengers who would find value in having phone calls on a flight.
Let us also forget the fact that many airplanes already have seat tethered phones that no one uses. A passenger etiquette policy determined by airlines would be preferable than a blanket ban. I see this more as a generational issue where old people are once again on the losing side.
In practice, I think the noise level from chatter would generally be far higher from people simply talking to those they are traveling with them than it would be from people with cell phones. No worse, for instance, than what you might expect on public transit, where cell phones are entirely allowed.. but with the provision that people are still expected to keep their voices at a reasonable level (I've actually seen a person on transit get reprimanded by complete strangers for talking too loudly on their phone once... the embarrassment of the situation alone, I think, was what made the person be completely quite thereafter).
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
The FCC's job is to determine if they are safe, so people calling for _them_ to ban them because of the annoyance factors are just assholes.
It's also not the government's job to prevent minor "annoyance" as some piece of bullshit populist legislation. If people are that annoyed the airlines can ban them.
...restricting them to designated areas....you know...a phone booth (call box, or hell...make one look like TARDIS)
Please point to the section of the Constitution which you think authorizes federal government to legislate laws for regulating how loudly you are allowed to talk to people. I'm genuinely curious. I'm think this is now a first amendment issue if the FAA determines there is no aircraft safety problem associated with phones.
So I guess you'd be equally opposed to allowing a person who was sitting near you to simply be talking casually to the person who was sitting beside them.
It's still a conversation that you're not a part of... you're still being forced to hear it by sole virtue of your proximity to them... or maybe, they should be forced to both get up from their seats and have their conversation further away from you?
Rather than prohibiting cell phones, it would make much more sense to be prohibitive of unnecessarily raising your voice and disturbing other passengers. Oh look, that's already a thing in situations where it gets to be a problem.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
I'm going to start eating extra spicy burritos just before we depart. Sorry, If I have to listen to endless "oh my god" and "you knows" or the pugnacious business guy making client calls all during a flight I will release my own anti-chatter device! Besides it's good for you!
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
I propose they pass a bill stating that people should get the fuck over it. I'm capable of making a quiet and non-annoying call in a public area. Others are not. That's just how it is. Tell them to quiet down or ignore it.
You can't see lips and body language on the phone.
The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
And throw that into the noisy environment of a plane, and people will talk even loudererer than necessary.
We need some kind of cheap, disposible mouth cowling/bib to muffle voice. Ideally with ear buds.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
...even if "being told what to do" means they decide internally but have a Federal organization slap their letterhead on it and make it a Federal rule/policy.
There will probably be a lot of high-mileage and influential business customers who want to talk on the phone. These people are the gravy for airlines in terms of income and that can get expensive if they switch to another carrier who will allow these calls. Making their own policies that risks exposing them to a competitive disadvantage is something they don't want.
If they do allow calls with their own policy, they then risk the public relations nightmare of bad press and public opinion. Of course they don't really care about vacation travelers opinions very much since they aren't the high margin business customers, but they also don't want the negative PR generally.
It's just so much easier for them on this issue if they don't have to decide on their own and they can just point to a regulatory rule.
But if people can't make phone calls from airplanes, how can the NSA listen into them?
Look at the names. These two have taken up residence up the asses of so many lobby groups, even the NSA couldn't get a reliable location on them.
There is so much important stuff to do -- when can we get Congress to stop regulating things just to get PR? Leave it to the private sector, and let the airlines themselves react to the consequences. For example, airlines could allow a section for cell phone lovers and let the assignment occur at seat selection time.
The only legislation we need is to make all congress critters sit with them -- since they are so fervent in having the government listening in to everything..
According to flight attendants on overseas flights, you can't hear others on their phones from a row away. I think it should be allowed with obnoxious folk who scream on their phones to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis - unless they are going to outlaw truly obnoxious noise such as screaming brats you can hear from 15 rows away, and larger annoying brats who kick your seat.
Phone calls have already been allowed for years - Skyphone anyone - and it hasn't been a problem. Just because it will now be $ConversationOnACellphone doesn't mean that it should now be banned. Don't punish everyone for the deeds of an obnoxious few, just prohibit the obnoxious few if they refuse to use their indoor voices.
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
We could cut down on all this silly legislation if they'd simply pass a law that let you punch rude people in the nose.
I can only suspect that it has a security angle. As in: she can't listen in those calls or something.
Religion is what happens when nature strikes and groupthink goes wrong.
Sadly, the only way to overturn this mess, and get it out and maybe revised would be to have the Reps in control of all 3x branches. But, I'm afraid what else they'd do if they had that much control.
Last time the GOP had the House, Senate, and Presidency, the United States got involved in Vietghanistan and Vietraq.
Jeez, don't they have anything better to do? (actually their spending time on this is probably safer in the long run than whatever else they would be working towards)
If it were such a nuisance to consumers, the airlines would offer "no-talking" flights or sections. Everything doesn't have to be legislated.
We need some kind of cheap, disposible mouth cowling/bib to muffle voice. Ideally with ear buds.
Just stuff the bottom with some sound-dampening foam.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Article I, Section 8. Regulating commercial flights is part of regulating commerce among the states (flights take off in one state and land in another) and post roads (flights share airspace with flights that carry Priority Mail packages). Don't like it? Propose a constitutional amendment to reverse Wickard v. Filburn.
I'm sure the legislation will go nowhere. It's just a means for politicians to avoid spending their time in a different manner and to engage in their favorite game: trying to look good while forcing other politicians to look bad.
However, maybe some airline will pay enough attention to the commentary on the politics to consider the idea of instituting quiet flights. It'll probably take a little while for passengers who violate the quiet flight social compact to be banned from purchasing tickets on those flights, but soon enough, airlines will be able to charge extra for tickets on quiet flights and also charge extra for providing cell phone enabling technology on noisy flights. Then they'll graduate to putting both quiet and noisy sections on the same giant airplane, and changing your previously chosen seat assignment while you're waiting in line to get on the plane.
I'm looking forward to when Amtrack gets wifi on transcontinental routes.
For one thing, it's not just the noise level. Hearing one side of a conversation tends to annoy the brain more than hearing both sides. For another, seating isn't assigned on public transit.
I don't like the idea of someone yaking on the phone next to be in an airplane, but do we need a law for *everything*?
it shouldnt be up to congress to make laws prohibiting these things... it should be up to the specific airline to say if they want to allow people to talk on the plane or not.
You can't see lips and body language on the phone.
Facetime.
I certainly hope your drink isn't > 16 ounces.
Loud cellphone talkers are one of the biggest social annoyances on my list. I agree with you, though, as the premise is super weak. I'm betting a congressman was stuck on a plane with one of these fools.
If he wants to push legislation, legalizing personal cellphone blockers would be something I'd support.
Why not complementary duct tape too? I love seeing pretty MILFs tied up and mouths duct taped. That reminds me, I've got a girl in my basement I need to feed.
I can't comprehend how a US Senator would consider this worthy of her/his time.
Think of how much time a Senator spends flying between DC and his state and his summer home and to the resort the company bribing him is paying for.
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
Hello, this the reality calling to remind you that Flight 93 happened.
It is high time you fire everyone in congress, and do not re-elect any who have been in office while your scaremongering polices have turned the world into an adaptation of 1984.
There are better solutions than legislation outright banning cell phone usage on flights.
Simply designate a certain area of seats for people who wish to use cell phones. Preferrably as close to the engines as possible. The engine noise will be so loud that habitual cell users will be cured of their habit.
Eternity: will that be smoking, or non-smoking? I Corinthians 6:9-10
What a great idea! While we're at it we can ban talking loudly in libraries, putting your elbows on the table, slurping your soup, driving too slow, bland conversation, and so on. Think of how much we could improve peoples' lives and how grateful they will be come election day!
Firstly, everyone talks louder on the phone. They don't realize it and deny it left-and-right, but they do.
Except my girlfriend, she's quite the opposite. She makes me feel like I'm mostly deaf after she responds to my third consecutive "what?" with a barely-whispered "god damn I'm practically screaming into the phone right now". Thinking about installing a Marshall half stack in my car and wiring it to my phone's speaker so I can converse with her while driving, because speakerphone makes the problem ten times worse.
Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
If phone calls would be prohibited on planes, flight 93 would have hit something in D.C. Maybe where these senators are sitting. Time for someone to use 9-11 politically again.
A plane is a bus with wings. Busses have people on phones all of the time.
You got the touch!
The quiet section is already monetized. It's called "first class", that wonderful place where the screaming of infants and children is reduced to a dull howl.
Was flying in first class once and two seats were occupied with 2 parents and 2 lap-children. Even though it was a short haul flight (2 hours on a 737), I felt sorry for the people in the seats next to them (because of the availability of oxygen masks, lap-children were restricted to one per row so they couldn't put them next to each other in the same row).
Talking on a cellphone in public should be a federal crime. In fact, let's give up all our freedoms in order to avoid minor annoyances!
I have personally witnessed Diane Feistein bumping off a confirmed passenger (an associate who had booked a seat near me), and refusing to turn off her electronic equipment (A Kindle) during landing operations on a commercial flight (when it was prohibited to leave it on during takeoffs and landings). Who the F**k is this person to make this kind of policy when she can't think of anyone but herself when it comes to behavior on an airplane?
A flight across Pennsylvania shares airspace with flights from one state to another that cross Pennsylvania (interstate commerce) and with airmail flights (post roads). U.S. courts have for decades interpreted regulating interstate commerce to include protecting interstate commerce from intrastate threats.
In the old days they had smoking and non-smoking sections. Second-hand smoke and cell phone 'noise pollution' are equivalent. Institute a non-cell phone section and charge LESS for it. Let the cell phone users yak it up at the back of the plane for a premium.
people tend to speak much more loudly than they would in a regular conversation. Additionally, if the connection is poor people tend to shout.
Now add the roar of the jet engines over that.
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
Being on a plane certainly isn't that bad. Getting onto and off of the plane can suck, especially if you have to deal with the TSA.
You can just watch a movie, sleep, read a book, listen to music, go into the bathroom and fart for 30 seconds straight if the pressure difference gets to your bowels...not that bad.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
I love (not really) how on Slashdot anything related to the airline industry brings out posts from people who never travel by plane. I had a friend who last traveled on a plane around 1999. He's not likely to ever travel anywhere by plane again in his life and this is by choice. He never flew after the TSA existed, yet listening to hm talk about the TSA you would think TSA had singled him out for unfair treatment on some flight years ago and he bore a grudge he never got over. Slashdot is the same way where people post here about how great it is to be able to talk on planes and they never fly anywhere.
I think letting people talk on planes on their cell phones is a horrible idea, but the airlines will allow if it given a choice. This is why the only way to stop it is for the government to forbid it. Now if I hold a minority opinion on this and it's clear that the majority of flyers want to talk on their cell phones on planes, I will accept that. I won't like it, but I'll accept it. The US airlines will allow this if given a choice for 2 reasons. The first is that they've already proven themselves unwilling to restrict alcohol sales to obviously inebriated passengers, some of whom in their drunken state cause problems serious enough to get them arrested when the plane lands, perhaps even having to make an emergency landing. Alcohol sales bring in money. They won't be stopped. The second reason is that this obviously creates a money making situation where they can, as mentioned earlier, sell "quiet zone" spaces at a premium. I travel by plane sometimes for personal reasons and I am not happy at all at the thought of having to pay an extra $200 or more just so I don't have to listen to someone else's phone conversation for the whole flight.
Either you're severely claustrophobic or you've lived a perfect, highly pampered life we should all be jealous of.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
You cant legislate courtesy.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
No private planes do not count as "commercial flight", does owning a car make you a taxi driver?
Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
Why is it that any time Republicans and Democrats get together the legislation is total crap? Republicans are supposed to support free market mechanisms and limited government, while Dems are supposed to support personal freedoms, like choice and privacy. But when they get together and agree on something, it usually runs the complete opposite of all of these purported beliefs.
That said, what's wrong with having a "silent" section on an airplane? In Europe they already have these on trains and it works fine. For once here is a problem that the free market really can resolve on its own - let it be! Just be glad that airlines don't have a "direct marketing" section on the plane where you have to endure a high pressure sales pitch for the entire length of the flight in order to secure a 10% discount.
Besides, when people near me are on the phone and talking too loud or in a manner that annoys me, I just making loud and obnoxious noises that should only be heard in a bathroom until the talkers decide to hang up. It works pretty well, especially against people talking in the bathroom.
That's right senators.. no more calls for you on your next private flight either... or... was this law just meant for "the people" for their own "safety".
How about having a few 10 minute blocks during a flight that you can you your phone. It would let phone get messages through and keep them from annoying the hell out of others for the entire duration of the flight. Oh, and make sure there are roaming fees.
This joke showed up in my inbox, from a friend:
***
After a tiring day, a commuter settled down in his seat and closed his eyes.
As the train rolled out of the station, a woman sitting next to him pulled out her cell phone.
She started talking in a loud voice: "Hi sweetheart. It's Sue. I'm on the train". "Yes, I know it's the six thirty and not the four thirty, but I had a long meeting". "No, honey, not with that Kevin from the accounting office. It was with the boss". "No sweetheart, you're the only one in my life". "Yes, I'm sure, cross my heart!"
Fifteen minutes later, she was still talking loudly. When the man sitting next to her had enough, he leaned over and said into the phone, "Sue, hang up the phone and come back to bed."
Sue doesn't use her cell phone so much in public any longer.
***
It might work on a plane too.
Proverbs 21:19
Not very PC, but I agree. Really, their little ears don't handle the pressure changes well, and they are easily startled by loud noises. Taking an infant on a flight is a form of abuse, in my book.
Proverbs 21:19
MORONS tend to speak much more loudly than they would in a regular conversation.
Fixed your typo for you...
Decent quality phones these days have excellent microphones. I actually speak much more softly on the phone than I would to a person sitting in the seat next to me.
But yes, the world is full of idiots who think that raising their voice is necessary when on the phone. That said, you can't legislate away stupidity.....
There isn't a true reduction. Just a 'reduction' in the increase.
If there was ever a true reduction, there would weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth as if the 4 horse riders had arrived in D.C.
If you want the expectation of quiet, get a hotel room, not a plane ticket.
Sad, but true. The "sequester" was a fraction of what is needed, and it cause a major panic attack. It's amazing to watch people in such denial, even arguing that you can just print money with no real consequence. Oh, and by the way, did you see that real wages have gone down since the 60s? [rolls eyes]
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Dear Senator Feinstein,
Could you please pass a law to create a new felony for crying on a plane. All there uneducated babies are really, but really annoying me when I am trying to browse porn sites while in the middle of a transcontinental flight.
Kind regards,
- x0ra
I think he was thinking more corporate charter and such, not necessarily strictly pilot-owned private planes.
Learn to love Alaska
Uhh, yea, what're you going to do about the phones built into the back of the seat, in the headrest? Ban those, too?
Fucking ill-educated people running our government.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
Not to mention that the other difference is that we the captive audience to somebody's cellphone conversation only hear half of the conversation, which is far more annoying that hearing the whole conversation at the same volume level.
As long as they're OK with me using my taser on them when they do so.
Anonymous Coward was referring to a "city bus", and I took this to mean something like Citilink, as opposed to a motor coach like the Greyhound bus you're talking about. I agree with you that motor coach trips are closer to the same category as an airline flight.
Maybe the best compromise would be to have phone booths, where you can go in and make your call? Anywhere else in the plane there would be no signal. Now how to make it so people share the space respectively?
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
What's difference between talking on a phone and talking to someone I am traveling with as far as noise disruption?
Because of low (or absent) sidetone on cell phones, people tend to speak much more loudly than they would in a regular conversation. Additionally, if the connection is poor people tend to shout. This is why most people find cell conversations disruptive.
I flew from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and the people behind me talked loudly non-stop about golf the whole way. Aaaargh! If only I had a golf club handy I might have joined the conversation... (I was halfway through a 30+ hour flight from London to Sydney at the time, and I was rather tired and short of patience).
So there had better be "yakking" and "non-yakking" compartments on planes if mobile/cell phones are allowed. We have "quiet carriages" on some of our trains now.
I am anarch of all I survey.
Feinstein again, that woman needs to be banned from government by a constitutional amendment. She is the epitome of what is wrong with current politics, she's a hypocrite, she'll jump on any bandwagon that gets her press, she has the common sense of an unsupervised teenager with a platinum credit card in a mall and she will twist the facts or outright lie to get her way. Oh and she's just plain crazy to boot.
So many loudness and annoying sounds, etc. Ugh(l(ee/y).
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
airlines handing out ten cents worth of foam ear plugs for free instead is just too much to hope for.
And overhearing a one sided conversation is more distracting for some reason. It is like your brain is keeps expecting a response and is let down when each sentence isn't answered.
Charge extra for those wanting to TALK on the phone. Make them all sit in the back.
TV-MA - the Beginning: "Ward, don't you think you were a little hard on the Beaver last night?"