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Please Turn Off All Electronic Devices

I have owned and enjoyed an iPod Nano for many years. Though I don’t use it much for music, it is a regular source for listening to podcasts and lectures.

Almost from the start, however, I’ve encountered intermittent difficulty in turning it off. There are some tricks to accomplish this posted online, but they only work some of the time.

When these workaround solutions don’t resolve this issue, I either just let the battery run down, forcing it to turn off, or dock it with my computer, thereby bypassing the problem.

Although this is mildly irritating, it’s not a big deal. At least not until recently.

In preparation for a trip, I loaded my iPod with hours of recordings. While waiting to board my plane and during the preflight process, I listened to it.

When the instruction came to turn off and stow all electronic devices, my iPod was unresponsive. And the tricks to make it cooperate didn’t work either.

What would a flight attendant do with a device that can’t be turned off? I didn’t want to find out, so I pretended that nothing was amiss and shoved it in my bag, feeling only a slight twinge of guilt for my non-compliance.

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Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

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