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Hear what United Airlines is doing to inspire passengers to use headphones

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Recline your seat back and press play on your in-flight entertainment.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "WHEN HARRY MET SALLY")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) And what would you like to drink?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Nothing, thanks.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As character) Do you have any Bloody Mary mix?

SIMON: And don't forget to plug in your headphones.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "WHEN HARRY MET SALLY")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As character) Here's what I want. Regular tomato juice, fill it up about three-quarters, then add a splash a Bloody Mary mix - just a splash - and a little piece of lime but on the side.

SIMON: Seriously, plug in the headphones while you watch "When Harry Met Sally, " or United Airlines might remove you from the plane. United doesn't like people blasting music, watching movies or jabbering on a speaker phone and have updated their rules. As streaming options proliferate, the noise on board has multiplied, like, well, "Snakes On A Plane."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SNAKES ON A PLANE")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #4: (As character) We got to clear the snakes out of the cockpit.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #5: (As character) Yeah, yeah. Clear the snakes out of the cockpit, yeah.

SAMUEL L JACKSON: (As Neville Flynn) Enough is enough.

SIMON: Sure is. That's Samuel L. Jackson fighting another airplane nuisance. You can watch him in flight, just keep it down. Airlines are well acquainted with passengers who don't use headphones. Some pass out free earbuds. Some just ask really nicely for people to turn down the volume. But many scofflaws on board are under 5 years old.

(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO)

RACHEL GRIFFIN-ACCURSO: (As Ms. Rachel) Hi, friends. Look, it's a surprise egg.

SIMON: You might not mind it if YouTubers like Ms. Rachel entertain your smaller seatmates, but plenty of people have cheered United's new hard line, if the comments section can be believed. Just don't laugh too loud either. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Scott Simon is the host of Weekend Edition Saturday and is one of the hosts of NPR's morning news podcast Up First.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.