Flight frustrations and the lost art of a phone call

Airlines should take passenger enjoyment more seriously

Why can’t people just sit down, have a drink, relax and read a good book? Or dig out their tablet and watch some TV? I have noticed a growing trend when I have been on a number of short haul flights recently.

Some passengers just can’t stay in their seats. They have to get up and have a chat, or congregate at one end of the plane. I had one chap who stood in the aisle watching his iPad with headphones on for what seemed like half the flight. And the cabin crew do nothing.

We have no chance of getting anywhere with an ignorant minority but airlines really should control the cabin environment for the enjoyment of all passengers.

Last year I had the misfortune of being in the middle of what felt like a nightclub as a passenger treated us to his own brand of ‘music’ as it blared out of his small speaker while he danced away with drink in hand. I considered engaging with him but quickly concluded that it would be a waste of time. We have no chance of getting anywhere with an ignorant minority but airlines really should control the cabin environment for the enjoyment of all passengers. If they act like kids, treat them so.

Phone etiquette

I know I have covered this before, but this is an issue that has moved on from being just irritating to a full-blown epidemic. People have seemingly forgotten how to use a telephone. I suppose there is no instruction on the box on how to do the most basic of things. 

You might know how to back up your photos to ‘The Cloud’ or take the perfect ‘selfie’, but who teaches the luddites out there how to make a phone call? It’s quite simple really; you dial and then put the phone to your ear (those weird looking things on the side of your head that are made for listening).

People have seemingly forgotten how to use a telephone.

The standard way to conduct a call is not to have your phone on speaker and talk into it like it’s a walkie-talkie. I don’t want to hear everyone’s conversation when I am out and about. Who does? There is a severe lack of self-awareness and consideration in society today and it’s only getting worse. Thankfully, I spend a lot of time with my group which is made up of intelligent folk. If someone chatted on speaker during one of our trips they would soon be thrown off the coach.

Smart Alex is confusing everyone

I may be getting on a little (I said a little), but I am no technophobe. I love my smart phone, tablet and have two smart speakers in my house. You know, the ones from Amazon that even wake you up.

Gone are the days of having to reach across to hit the snooze button; I just shout in its direction for another ten minutes in bed. Which leads me to the confusion created when I was in arrivals at an airport when a mother called after her daughter. She must have shouted the name half a dozen times as bemused passengers looked at their phones and then to where the sound was coming from. I mean, who calls their child Alexa in this day and age?

_{The views expressed in this column are not necessarily the views of the publisher}