Uncommon Sense

I read in the New York Times recently the good news that the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission recommended cell phones not be given clearance for use on airline flights, with which I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I must admit that I was somewhat surprised common sense leadership actually trumped lobbying for a change.

Suffice it to say that all too many people cannot be trusted to exercise good judgment with the use of cell phones, especially in the cramped quarters of an airplane. Case in point: one of my neighbors activated the speakerphone capability of her cell phone the other day and had it cranked so loudly that I could actually hear everything the other person was saying, all while I was more than fifty feet away and inside my house!

It remains to be seen whether or not cell phones ever make their way onto airlines, but I travel enough to welcome the electronic downtime that in-flight no-cell zones afford me. Without such helpful guidelines, the already not-so-friendly skies become even less so.