Upwardly mobile? - No thanks, it's scary enough!
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 wallets - 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. For the sake of an hour or two and some peace and quiet, surely we could all do without.
Even in the case of emergencies, once you’re thousands of feet up in the air there’s bugger all you can do until the plane has landed.
I like to close my eyes on planes - especially during the taking off and landing bit - as it means I’m less likely to freak out and imagine some horrible, hellish death. Last week, I was on a flight which had to be re-routed from its intended destination of Derry to Belfast due to extreme weather conditions. It was a bumpy enough ride and the plane attempted to land in Derry but was forced back up above the clouds again due to high winds, hail and snow. After ten minutes spent circling Eglinton, passengers were informed that the plane would be travelling to Belfast to land.
I closed my eyes, thought ‘happy thoughts’ and did a sterling job in completely ignoring what was going on. I don’t fancy my chances of doing that in future when some goon sitting beside me decides to phone his buddy and shout: “Hello? Yeah, I’m on the plane!! It’s REALLY bumpy. We tried to land but the pilot said it’s far too dangerous. Wait a second, the fella beside me has started crying. What a loser! Hold on, I’ll take a picture of him on my phone and text it to you.”
But, honestly, the possibility of that happening isn’t the real reason I don’t want to see mobiles on-board. I just hate annoying ring tones, ok?
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Derry
Sunday 27 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 14 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South east
