Polite vs Right: the Airplane Edition
Years ago — it must have been the late 90s or thereabouts — I thought I heard something about RMS getting kicked off a plane for refusing to turn off his mobile phone. Unfortunately Google isn’t giving me much love on the subject, so perhaps I just hallucinated it. Maybe it was some other free software/open source big-name. Whatever the case, it’s easy to imagine: a logical, scientifically-minded geek who’s convinced that cellphones don’t affect aircraft systems and is determined to prove the flight staff misguided and incorrect.
There are plenty of insane, illogical things that happen when you travel by air, and every single one of them makes you (well me, anyway) want to set people straight, possibly with the help of a blunt object. Of course, pointing out to a security guard that you could kill someone much more easily by breaking your bottle of duty-free liquor and slitting their throat with the broken glass than by using a set of nail clippers is… well, not too clever, unless you really like spending time in a cell.
Air security is an extreme case, but there are plenty of situations where people or organisations are excrutiatingly stupid and telling them so is a bad idea. What I want to know is, how the hell do you resist it? How do you find a more productive channel for your SMRTness? If I knew the answers to these questions I’m sure I’d be a much nicer person, but in truth I find it very very hard.
Meanwhile, to get you nice and riled up, here’s a link to Bruce Schneier’s blog.
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At this point, I’m just as glad for the rules regarding cell phones on planes.
Unless it’s an emergency and everyone is wanting to say good-bye to loved ones, do you really want to be trapped in an airplane sitting right in front of someone using their “cellphone voice” (why do people feel the need to talk so loudly into those things, anyway?) for half an hour?
Julia: good point. *shudder*
I don’t think I have a louder-than-talking “cellphone voice”, and I think I know why: years of informal training as a herald in the Society for Creative Anachronism and as a chorister in university choirs has taught me to consciously control my vocal projection. Thus, when I’m on the phone in public, I actually switch the projection off, and change the acoustic properties of my voice so that it doesn’t carry as far.
Interestingly, my ten-year-old daughter also has this conscious control now, having been taught by both parents. She can go from projection=on to projection=off at will, giving her a much greater ability to control how deafened (or irritated) people get around her.
Skud: I’m sure I remember hearing that story about RMS too, so keep googling and it’ll turn up…
I live in Vancouver BC, and was going to a costume party in Seattle WA, intending to dress as a wizard. Among other things I was carrying a very cheesy plastic runesword with a big skull on the hilt, and a six-foot-four-inch hardwood quarterstaff. Guess which one the Amtrak people made me tag and stow with my baggage?
I tried to keep my eye-rolling to a minimum, refrained from describing any scenes from Jackie Chan movies, and was careful not to thwack anyone on the head as me and my quarterstaff got comfy.
The thing to remember when you’re confronted with that kind of institutional stupidity is that the flight crew or what-have-you are not scientific experts; they have neither the expertise nor the authority to evaluate your “superior” knowledge on the spot. This is, to some degree, a security advantage, because if you can’t talk them into bending the rules, then someone whose intentions *aren’t* good can’t either.
If you want to bring your SMRTness to bear on an airline, then the best way to do so is with a letter-writing campaign: to the TSA, to the airline, to DHS, to your favourite scientists who might join in your vocal defense of your favourite technology. On the spot, though, sit down, shut up, and smugly reassure yourself that suffering has always been the lot of genius.
As both a Geek and a flight attendant, Let me tell you - We know that Mobile phones don’t actually effect the Avionics in Modern Jet aircraft - In fact, I may have made a call or two myself from the air - Its just the same as how we know there have been Exactly Zero Successful ditchings in either a widebody or a narrowbody jet aircraft - But we still make you turn off the phones and we still do the safety demo.
Oddly enough for the same reason - Its Mandated by law, and If I let you go, and the company finds out - easier than it sounds, with at least three other cabin crew, and people’s tendency to tell the world about anything they can - Then I’m out of a job not just with my own airline, but With any other, not to mention probably fined quite heavily.
Trust me - If you hold my plane up because you just can’t turn your phone off for a few seconds while I’m looking and I have to throw you off my plane, It really ruins my whole day.
Ah, airport security, how I love and loathe thee. Shall I compare thee to a summer’s . . . sorry, wrong blog.
I was on my way to Argentina in January having been surprisingly glued to the ground for a few months. You may remember last autumn there was a liquid kerfluffle. So here I show up with my one carry on and a purse, because I can carry my life in a knapsack and still have formal wear, and guess what, the smaller shampoo bottle I decanted my favorite shampoo into was marked 4 oz. (soundtrack here).
Never mind the bloody bottle was only half full. This was my first trip since the 100mL=3.3(ish)oz rule was instituted. GD, F,F,F,F,F. I was the proud recipient of a full body search and thoroughly harassed for my infraction. Never mind the difference between 100mL and 4oz. Never mind the half full container. The choice was clear, chuck or check. “Miss is this object liquid?” My response, “Um, no, sir, that is a powder, you know a foundation powder – totally dry.” J F-ing C, F, F, F.
Now to say I was rolling my eyes would be an understatement. I rolled my eyes so hard my shoulders rolled with them. I dare say I turned back time with that eye roll, at least 3-4 days worth of time.
BUT
Rules are set for the sake of well, setting rules – in most cases. For better or worse, we all like some conventions whether they be coding conventions (LikeThis or Like_this) or Anime conventions (er, yeah). It’s kind of like setting the Alpha Dog meter. People, like other animals, rather prefer someone else to be in charge. That way, they can complain about these “other people” who set the rules or the “other people” who break the rules (like my major shampoo infraction). Really how many lives would cease to exist if they had to be totally and completely responsible for not only their own actions, BUT ALSO their damn thoughts! Egad, millions would perish.
One to stick by principle, I checked my bag, re-entered security, grabbed a bagel-like-object (remember, airport food) and boarded my flight, just in time. With enough vino tinto in Argentina all cares were cast aside.