Cell Phone Commandments

If you read yesterday's blog post, you'll know where THIS is coming from.

Thinking about my cell-phones-on-airplanes rant prompted me to Google "cell phone etiquette." I found several interesting posts:

The Ten Commandments of cell phone etiquette was written by Dan Briody, and published on May 26, 2000 -- YES, OVER 8 YEARS AGO! -- in InfoWorld. It is still worth a read.

The Microsoft Small Business Center offers another look at the same issue in an article penned (there's a word that may become extinct in a generation!) by Joanna L. Krotz. Thanks, Joanna. You nailed it.

It's time, people, to take back our personal space from those who would subject us to their personal cell phone conversations! Are you with me?

You think SNAKES on a plane is scary...

I was on a plane heading back to New Jersey yesterday, and the second we landed, the woman in the seat right behind me jumped on her cell phone as if she were a 1960's newspaper reporter on deadline rushing to a bank of pay phones to deliver the scoop on the 4-hour flight from Las Vegas .

Speaking in a voice that I am certain could be heard in first class, she recounted in glorious detail the 20-minute hold on the tarmac in Vegas, the poor-quality snack that Continental Airlines served us (it was ostensibly a cheese pizza, if you really need to know), the plot and full cast of the in-flight entertainment, and just about every bump, turn or movement the 737-800 made on its cross-continent journey.

It got me thinking about the proposal that is brewing to allow cell phone usage on commercial flights. I for one, would like to cast a vehement "NO!" vote on that. It's bad enough being cramped up in a coach-class seat for 4+ hours with nothing but "close" friends jammed in around you while watching a B-list movie, without having to hear chapter and verse about the troubles and tribulations of other put-upon travelers. Please, PLEASE FAA or whomever makes this decision, SPARE US!