Madam, - It now seems very clear that many Irish people have deep psychological issues. How else can one explain the level of anger, irritation and exasperation expressed in recent letters concerning the possibility of passengers using their mobile phones on planes?
Believe it or not, transport systems have always been noisy. Passengers regularly clomp up stairs on double-decker buses. Some people are so inconsiderate that they laugh out loud during conversations. Babies and young children have the sheer audacity to cry. Many, in a brazen display of insensitivity, go so far as to sneeze and cough.
And let us not forget the rustling of plastic bags, the tinny rhythmic pulsing of headphones, the dull ring of bells, the mechanical station announcements, the screeching of hydraulic brakes, the hiss of pneumatics, the low-frequency throb of idling engines, the high frequency din of turbines, and the sound of rain or hail hitting windows.
In this cacophony of sound, what is it about the use of mobile phones that sends people over the edge? Is it the volume of the person speaking into their handset? Clearly this can't be the case because those who communicate non-digitally can often be equally loud.
If it's the inanity of the conversations, then why is such irritation confined to mobile phone users and not the wider travelling public? Should we issue people with acceptable conversation topics so as not to offend the intelligentsia who pour scorn on frivolous discussions? Are we to have freedom of speech as long as you don't mention where you are?
As with recent foibles such as road rage, I suggest the neurotic, irrational obsession with when, where and how mobile phones are used is yet another manifestation of people's stressful lifestyles. The only realistic solutions are for us to issue ear-buds to those of a fragile auditory disposition, to ban caffeine, and for HR departments to run yoga classes and anger management courses - at least until pharmaceutical companies rebrand their anti-depressants and mild sedatives as effective treatments for "mobile-phone-induced irritability syndrome."
I dread to think what would happen if a mobile phone user lapsed into, you know, those dreaded Americanisms within earshot of some, like, grumpy, overstressed Irish Timesreaders. I suspect a small forest would be cleared to print the letters. Do these neurotics expect people to tiptoe around them? - Yours, etc,
Dr JAMES FRYAR,
Parklands,
Santry, Dublin 9.