Oh dear. There are only a few places left where we can still be free from the aural nuisance of banal ringtones and inane, one-sided chit chat. Soon, even when we're zipping high above the clouds we'll have to tolerate the sounds associated with mobile phone-use up there too.
Pop tunes, rock tunes, R & B (ahem) "classics", and Crazy Frog have gone hand in hand with mobiles for a few years now and they have become part and parcel of everyday life.
We love our mobiles. They have become a fixture - along with keys and wal
lets - of things that people never leave the house without (or curse that we've forgotten if already out).
When mobiles became commonplace, comedian Dom Joly made a career out of ridiculing annoying people with his: "Hello? Yeah, I'm on the tube/on the bus/in a library.." sketch.
Obviously, mobiles are dead handy but they can be even more infuriating. Well, it's not so much the phones that are annoying as people who use them when you'd rather they didn't.
Some people deem themselves so important that they can't go and watch a movie at the cinema without being uncontactable for a couple of hours. The darkness of the movie theatre is often pierced by a series of mini-screens lighting up and distracting film fans from the big screen. But at least they have enough cop-on to put their phones on silent.
Even at Mass it isn't surprising to hear a phone go off. The echoey sound of a ringtone in church is usually followed by a panicky-looking lady fumbling frantically in a handbag for a few seconds - or what must feel like hours to her - before the phone is silenced. It's hard not to feel sorry for them.
And now another, and perhaps the final, haven of previous tranquility will soon be invaded and opened up to the chattering masses.
Aer Lingus has said it plans to permit the use of mobiles on its planes in the future. Ryanair has said it will test mobile phone technology in June on 20 of its planes.
Peter Sherrard, head of communications with Ryanair, said: "By June this year, passengers will be able to use their own mobile phones and we'll be encouraging them to make calls to their hearts' content.
"Passengers should bear in mind that Ryanair aircraft have never been quiet places. We are constantly selling food, drink, perfumes and scratchcards, and we will be encouraging people to talk, text and talk."
Interfere
Currently, mobile phone use is prohibited because there is evidence that they interfere with onboard communication and navigation systems. New technology has been designed which will allow mobile phones to work safely and effectively 3,000metres above sea level. Thank God for progress, eh?
Ah well, there will be little hope of closing your eyes for a wee on-board doze in future when sounds of vibrations, text alerts, and ring tones fill the jet.
Ryanair and Aer Lingus are simply giving customers what they want, and you can't blame them for that, but I don't understand the customers who would want mobile-use permitted on planes.
It just seems a tad unnecessary.
