Even if passengers like me can just zone it out, it is not very courteous to use a flashing charging cable on an airplane that blinks like a neon light…. especially on a redeye flight.
Flashing Charging Cable On American Airlines Redeye Flight
Check out this charging cable which was purportedly used on a redeye flight over six hours in length:
This woman’s charger during a 6+ hour red eye flight. pic.twitter.com/Ks8LyoRKjz
— non aesthetic things (@PicturesFoIder) January 6, 2024
Based on the napkin, this was an American Airlines flight. It appears to be a Boeing 737. That’s rather secondary to this point: such light pollution is rude. Don’t bring a flashing charging cable on a flight, regardless of the time of day. Heck, it can cause seizures in some folks who are more sensitive.
My wife Heidi is a very light sleeper. The slightest noise or light wakes her up and she requires absolute darkness to sleep. She would have gone crazy on this flight. On the other hand, I can zone out most light and sound and sleep just about anywhere. I don’t think I would have said anything, but she certainly would have.
It seems to me the flight attendant should have treated that like you treat playing music on a phone without headphones: “Sorry ma’am, that is not permitted. Please use a less-offending charging cable.”
CONCLUSION
Common courtesy goes a long way when we fly. Most of us are just trying to get from point A to point B (some of us, like me, enjoy the experience while most simply cannot wait for it to be over). Don’t make it worse by being the one who makes it harder for everyone else to get to sleep.
And a general question: why are these cords made in the first place? What is the point of them?
(Hat Tip: View From The Wing)
When I clicked on the article and saw the picture: “Oh, that’s not too bad…”. When I saw the video: “OMG, WTF, that’s HORRIBLE!!!”
And they make it because people pay extra for bling, that’s all. It probably cost 2x-3x as much as a regular cable.
Why do they make these annoying things?Is there any purpose to this cord? Besides giving people headaches, I can’t think of one good reason.
THIS is when a FA needs to get involved.
Haha. At least it’s consistent.
Ever been in a redeye where a kid randomly opens the window wide open for 1-3 seconds on 15 to 30 second intervals and his parents doing jack sh1t about it? Now that’s real irritation.
“Sorry ma’am, that is not permitted. Please use a less-offending charging cable.”
Well that’s not going to happen. Talk about something that would be ripe for an air rage incident.
“Says who?”
“Where is that rule written?”
“My cable is offending? In YOUR opinion!”
“You are offending me by telling me that!”
And blah, blah, blah.
I having someone say that to someone… I think not.
Actually I use a cable like this all the time. The reason being is half the time the plugs on flights don’t work and I can easily see if my device is charging this way. It doesn’t light up if not charging. For the plugs under the seat, again, more often than not, the plug doesn’t stay in the outlet unless it’s the little square plug and sometimes not even then. Again, I know if my device is actually charging. I’ve had other passengers ask where to get one for the same reason. With that said… it usually is under a blanket and if it was a red eye flight, I would likely cover it or turn off . And if someone said it bothered them I’d figure out a way to either turn off or cover. So it has nothing to do with bling but everything to do with knowing if the outlets and plugs are actually charging and it seems like about half the time, they’re not. Just my 2 cents.
If it’s not a flashing cable it’s going to be something else. I sat next to a person on a flight who thought it would be OK to apply nail polish. When I politely asked them to stop, I was advised “There is no rule against it. Deal with it.”