My one question for the OP (I loved the fat guy slam - he's quite the role model for his kids - not!): what if it were just 5 or 6 conversations between seat mates? What's the difference? I agree that some people have bad cell phone etiquette (talk way too loud, as if they still don't trust the thing to work), but it seems that everyone is dogpiling that one thing. Take driving - there are plenty of other ways to be a menace on the roads - putting on makeup, shaving, eating, reading the newspaper, playing with the radio, turning to talk to the person next to you or in the back seat - but cell phones is the one that gets far and away the most grief.