Here’s a brief, incomplete list of things that are, definitively, The Worst:
- Being trapped in an enclosed space and forced to listen to some Blackberry-toting business guy obliviously chat on his phone at great volume.
- Feeling pressured to respond to non-urgent business matters outside of office hours.
- Air travel.
I’m sad to report that the Federal Communications Commission is proposing that all three of those odious items be combined into one thing that’s sure to inspire some rage: phone calls being allowed on flights.
From CNN:
Making a cell phone call while aloft could become a reality under a proposal by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
Cell phone calls, texting and other mobile services would be allowed when the aircraft are flying above 10,000 feet, but not during takeoff and landing, according to an official briefed on the proposal.
Airlines would have to equip planes with special antennas approved by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration before passengers could start talking.
On the one hand, it’s great that the use of mobile devices will no longer be restricted on flights. There’s no reason people shouldn’t be able to check Twitter, update Facebook or send texts while they’re in the air. But forcing aircraft passengers, many of whom are already stressed, to listen to some woman’s stupid ringtone or some dude’s heated conversation while they’re trapped in a tin can hurtling through the sky? Please no. Just no.
(via The Atlantic)
