About a three months ago, I got reprimanded loudly by a not-very-clever air marshall. As the plane descended towards the runway, I switched on my Blackberry in violation of the airline rules. The air marshall, who happened to be sitting next to me, told me that use of use of WiFi is not permitted on board. Telling the air-marshall that the device was not WiFi did not improve my standing. How much I enjoyed to read in last week's edition of the Economist a sarcastic editorial containing a much more truthful variation of inflight announcements. Since the Economist has deemed this article as one of the ones they don't share for free on the public web-site, I'll just share a few selected quotes and you'll have to visit their site to read the rest. My favorite:
"Please switch off all mobile phones, since they can interfere with the aircraft's navigation systems. At least, that's what you've always been told. The real reason to switch them off is because they interfere with mobile networks on the ground, but somehow that doesn't sound quite so good. On most flights a few mobile phones are left on by mistake, so if they were really dangerous we would not allow them on board at all, if you think about it. We will have to come clean about this next year, when we introduce in-flight calling across the Veritas fleet. At that point the prospect of taking a cut of the sky-high calling charges will miraculously cause our safety concerns about mobile phones to evaporate."
Another good one:Once we have reached cruising altitude you will be offered a light meal and a choice of beverages—a word that sounds so much better than just saying ‘drinks’, don't you think? The purpose of these refreshments is partly to keep you in your seats where you cannot do yourselves or anyone else any harm. Please consume alcohol in moderate quantities so that you become mildly sedated but not rowdy. That said, we can always turn the cabin air-quality down a notch or two to help ensure that you are sufficiently drowsy.
The Economist has just reminded me again why it is the best newspaper in the world.
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