4196 replies to this topic

[Stone]

Sometimes in life, you come across a situation, and you just want to yell, "Hey! Asshole!"

And not just when reading food boards.

I'm on an airplane and there's this gunner-kid next to me. Looked mid/late-20s. Intense corporate banking type look.

He didn't turn off his cell phone or blackberry the whole trip. the cell phone was in his shirt pocket and he kept pulling it out to check something. He constantly looked at his blackberry, scrolling up and down, but not typing anything. The stewardess saw him once and told him to turn off the blackberry. He pretended to, but didn't.

I can't say that I was all that worried about our safety, although a flight attendant friend of mine tells me that wireless gadgets can really screw up the navigations system.

What would you do? Ignore it? Tell him to turn the stuff off? Rat him out the Sky Babe?

[yvonne johnson]

My major gripe would've been him fidgeting about. I can't bear it when people can't sit still and I might've told him to SIT STILL (asshole).

[Wilfrid1]

This happened once on an international flight (and it wasn't so long after 9/11). An old guy was obsessed with his cell phone, and when the stewardess told him to turn it off, he simply ignored her. After a few moments, passengers were stepping out of their seats to punch him out. Other members of the cabin crew showed up.

I think disobeying cabin crew's instructions in this day and age is unreasonable*, and I would support ratting on him.

*Except when they relate to alcohol intake and are given to Wilfrid when he's sober.

[Rail Paul]

If a person sitting next to me on the train is speaking on his cellphone, and it's really bothering me, I often say something to them. If nothing happens, I'll answer the comments he's saying to the person on the phone. They usually change seats

I haven't had the opportunity to rat out somebody for using a laptop or blackberry in a prohibited airspace, yet, but I'd do it in a heartbeat.

[jinmyo]

I'll answer the comments he's saying to the person on the phone. They usually change seats

[mongo_jones]

i think the thing to do is to strike back. if you can puke on demand do it--on him. at least drop your drink on his blackberry. pick your nose and wipe it on the seat divider. fart a lot (comes easier to some of us) or at least make farting noises. read the manifesto of the egullet society for the culinary arts and letters out loud (doing voices the whole time). whatever it takes.

i will say though that i've heard the reverse as well--that the risk from wireless communications on planes is wildly overblown. anyone have any actual science they want to throw in?

[Orik]

some science - yes, there's some risk, mostly from the signalling, not the actual data packets. Unfortunately, there's some progress being made on technology that will allow some cell phones to work in flight.

[SFJoe]

If BlackBerries brought down planes, there wouldn't be anything left flying. I don't know exactly why it happens, but I very frequently turn mine off, put it in my briefcase, and find that it's turned itself back on during the flight. But so far we haven't crashed.

[GG Mora]

read the manifesto of the egullet society for the culinary arts and letters out loud (doing voices the whole time).

That's the funniest thing I've read in weeks.

[Kikujiro]

Depends on the phone (dunno re Blackberries). My phone has a 'flight mode' that switches off the cell and Bluetooth functions so you can still use the calendar, saved emails, and whatever other apps and games you may want to without causing interference. Could keep pulling it out to check something without it being switched on as a phone.

[Kikujiro]

Also nb the scene in the West Wing pilot that introduces Toby.

But if I know somebody's phone is really on during a flight/takeoff/landing, I want to beat them to a pulp.

[Rail Paul]

One of my radio magazines mentioned that the radio band used for nav systems below 10,000 feet has the potential to sustain interference from certain permitted (class C?) electronics like cell phones, blackberries, scanners, and CD players. Nobody has ever determined that a single plane has ever been affected, but nobody wants to take liability for saying it would never happen.

The principle is that all electronic gear, including TVs, microwaves, cell phones, electric shavers, etc throw off an electromagnetic field. In some cases, the fields register as static or errant signals to some receivers, such as the nav systems on planes.

The super expensive onboard phone system uses a tailored signal in the 400 band which doesn't affect the nav systems.

[Stone]

I gotta say that I wasn't so much worried that the phone was dangerous, it more that this guy didn't turn it off.

And one more Hey! Asshole! -- When you get in the door of the subway -- don't stop there! There are 20 people behind you who also want to get to work.

[StephanieL]

And one more Hey! Asshole! -- When you get in the door of the subway -- don't stop there! There are 20 people behind you who also want to get to work.

I've started elbowing the people who stand in the door as I (and a hundred other folks) are trying to get out. I know I'm pushing my luck but no repercussions so far.

[Wilfrid1]

I gotta say that I wasn't so much worried that the phone was dangerous, it more that this guy didn't turn it off.

And one more Hey! Asshole! -- When you get in the door of the subway -- don't stop there! There are 20 people behind you who also want to get to work.

How about the two assholes both standing in the door of the subway, each assuming the other will move so that people can get on and off?

As for Airplane Asshole, I'm with Stone. It's ignoring a reasonable instruction from the cabin crew I object to. (As we've established, instructions not to drink several vodkas and then wine with dinner are not reasonable.)