I have these earmuffs that I use in the workshop to protect the (already damaged at this point) hearing from the power tools. I took them with me on the trip to Atlanta, to wear on the plane, because the noise of the engines can sometimes bother me on take-off. Plus it helps to deaden the jagged crying of babies or the idiotic conversations of the adults.

But they made me take them off today. The flight attendant told me flat out that the pilot would not take off if I continued to wear them. Strange.

I kept protesting to them that they weren’t personal electronic devices (PEDs), prohibited below 10,000 feet. I showed them that there were no wires, no batteries, no nothing. All for naught, however.

I stewed furiously throughout the flight, unable to even fire up the iPod after we were high enough. I did wear the muffs after the ding when we were told we could use the PEDs. But I dutifully took them off for landing. But still I was so pissed.

I talked to the other flight attendant and the pilot when leaving the plane. The pilot explained that it was a safety issue, that I had to be able to hear safety instructions, that it had nothing to do with electronic devices.

That made some sense, in a lame sort of way. But it also made me feel ashamed for being so angry about it for the whole flight. But another part of it was just being ashamed for being angry in the first place. It was just some earmuffs, after all.