On another flight I took this weekend, I noticed something new and odd: people were still yakking away on their cells, even as we taxied down the runway and took off. I was faintly shocked.

Then, even before we landed (still in the air!), I noticed even more passengers on their cells, calling people to say, Yeah, were about to land, Ill be home when I told you I would. You know, vital communications. So where were the flight attendants? Strapped into their little seats, oblivious to all this.

Now, we can joke about this and I think most of us know that cell phone usage isnt really going to crash a plane BUT what bothers me is, people disobeying the flight attendants. No, I’m not that much of a Pollyanna, but in a real emergency, I think we do have to be prepared to do what the crew tells us, otherwise all is chaos. I think.

So why did these bozos decide to get on their phones? Maybe its a mini-rebellion: getting on your cell is one thing you can control, in a world of delays/cancellations/crummy seats, etc., etc. Am I seeing conspiracies where none exist? Could be! I should point out that some of the folks on the phones had those fancy new Apple deals. I think they were just showing off.