Turn Off Your Cellphone?

I hate listening to other people's phone conversations. Too many people seem to think it is okay to have cellphone conversations anytime, anywhere; and they generally seem to think they need to speak more loudly into a cellphone than in person. Ugh.

But what's wrong with texting and checking your email on a flight? Not much unless it distracts you in case of emergencies. Here's an insider's report:

Turning off our electronic devices: How necessary is it, really?
Flight attendants everywhere will hate me for this, but ... having your electronic device on below 10,000 feet is not an immediate danger to the flight. How do I know? Pilots are the worst offenders of this rule. Not on purpose, of course, but when we're flying all day, sometimes we forget to turn our phones off. I've received a phone call everywhere from the takeoff roll to 18,000 feet over the Rockies and the airplane has never had an adverse reaction.

That said, it's still important for you to listen to the flight attendants and follow their instructions to turn off your electrical devices. It is their job to enforce the rules, no matter how dumb they are. If you want to give someone an attitude or an earful, please direct your worst to the hypocritical politicians who do not comply with the rule while on their private jets.

I've heard phones go off or text signals as planes are landing. As with the pilot who wrote that statement above, it's never been a problem.