Why exactly are Cell Phones so much more annoying????

[CanvasShoes]

Right now I'm listening to a loud conversation. Not loud as in argument loud, but loud enough to hear EVERY blasted "fact", inflection and story of the conversationist (and I use that term lightly).

Is this one annoying side of a cell phone conversation, as in dozens of "I hate cell phones/Blackberries etc" threads? No.

Nooooo. This is a person going ON and ON about some boring hunting and fish farming crap and all his travels and ON ON ON ON ON......Not only are we, the captive and unwilling audience (I"m in the Portland terminal waiting to board), being treated to Mr Adventure's (MA) droning tales of travel, but we are also having to hear his two closest captives and their responses.

At any rate, the above was the scenario, the setup if you will. So why is that not as annoying as those cell phone conversations some of our fellow dopers are constantly starting threads in which to whine?

Yes people who talk too loudly on their phones are annoying. All conversation in which we aren't personally interested is annoying. Can we just leave it at that and stop with the whiny pathetic and pointless attacks on cell phones?

THEY are not the problem. People who insist upon forcing others to listen to their fascinating personal lives (whether by one sided cell phone conversation, or live and in person) ARE the problem.

So lay off cell phones already, cell phones don't talk loud, PEOPLE talk loud.

:D

(sorry, that was way too tame for the pit but with cell phones as the subject matter I'm pretty sure it would end up pit material pretty quickly).

[Lord Ashtar]

Bravo.

[Anaamika]

Er...I don't find cell phones annoying by themselves. I mean, I don't want one, but I don't mind people just talking on them.

I find them annoying because you can take them into places I don't even normally have conversations, like the bathroom, or the movie theatre. In a movie theatre, people normally shut up, and don't talk, but a few cell phone people always think it's OK to answer their phone and talk on it.

[Jackmannii]

Cigarettes aren't annoying and hazardous to our health.

It's the people who smoke them.


Stop blaming the cigarettes! :dubious:

[Mr. Blue Sky]

Yes people who talk too loudly on their phones are annoying. All conversation in which we aren't personally interested is annoying. Can we just leave it at that and stop with the whiny pathetic and pointless attacks on cell phones?

THEY are not the problem. People who insist upon forcing others to listen to their fascinating personal lives (whether by one sided cell phone conversation, or live and in person) ARE the problem.

It's not the annoying or ridiculously inane conversations that piss most people off. It's that a lot of cell phone users insist on talking when they should be doing something else that delays other people.

I saw a woman driving a Ford Excursion in a parking lot. She was using her left hand to hold the phone and the right hand was pawing at the steering wheel trying to make a left turn. Put the fucking phone down for FIVE SECONDS, won't you?

I was in line at the post office in one of those common feeder lines. The woman at the front of the line was jabbering on and on and didn't hear the counter person say, "Next!", so the next person walked around her. The cell zombie got upset and yelled at the guy. The guy yelled back, "Hang up that damned phone and pay attention next time", and got waited on. And there was mild applause from the 15-20 people in line.

[Cunctator]

I think there are several reasons:
- people tend to talk on them so much more loudly than they need to. I don't know why, but they do. As a result it's much harder for bystanders to ignore the noise and thus it becomes more irritating.
- you're exposed to them everywhere nowadays, in places where you would once have been free from them (as Anaamika said) eg restaurants, cinemas. It's annoying if your lovely dinner out in a good restaurant is spoiled by the incessant yelling into the phone going on at the next table.

[hajario]

I was in line at the post office in one of those common feeder lines. The woman at the front of the line was jabbering on and on and didn't hear the counter person say, "Next!", so the next person walked around her. The cell zombie got upset and yelled at the guy. The guy yelled back, "Hang up that damned phone and pay attention next time", and got waited on. And there was mild applause from the 15-20 people in line.

The exact same thing happened to me except for I was the dipshit on the cell phone. The guy behind my agressively walked by me a few feet and then stood and stared at me. When I realized what happened I gave him a thumbs up and waved him on. You could plainly see the disappointment on his face. He was ready for a loud confrontation, god damn it. He was 100% in the right to go ahead of me but it ruined it for him when I acknowledged it.

Back to the OP. I am sure that people would mind cell phones much less if we all whispered into them. It's the loudness, not the phones. A few weeks ago I was in the Memphis airport. We were all crowded at the gate getting ready to board. This guy was on his cell placing an order for something. He clearly said his name, credit card number and expiration date within earshot of about 100 people. Unbelievable.

[betenoir]

Can we just leave it at that and stop with the whiny pathetic and pointless attacks on cell phones?

No. No we can't.



So lay off cell phones already, cell phones don't talk loud, PEOPLE talk loud.


Apt. Guns don't kill people...guns make it much much easier for people to kill people. Cell phones don't make peole annoying...cellphones make it much much easier for people to be annoying.

(Let's just take one example. Two people are in a heated conversation. They approach a third person, let's say for the exchange of good and services. Conversation stops while one of them interacts with third person (99.9% of the time). Alternatively, one person is in heated conversation on cell phone. Enters into interaction with third person for goods and services. First conversation continues unabated (77.3% of the time). Annoying. )

[Cheesesteak]

All conversation in which we aren't personally interested is annoying. Can we just leave it at that and stop with the whiny pathetic and pointless attacks on cell phones?Sure, I agree with.... wait, can you hear me? Hold on.....

Is it ok now? Wait a minute, dammit..... this thing is breaking up... I'm on one bar here...

This stupid phone... Lemme call you back.


This sample cellphone conversation brought to you by my mother.

[Mellivora capensis]

This story from a pilot friend of mine.

He's co-piloting and taxiing towards the runway for take-off. The usual announcements of "please switch of all cell phones, computers blah, blah, blah" have been made when the in-flight attendant taps on his shoulder and tells him that there is a passenger talking on his cellphone who refuses to end the call and switch off.

Did I mention that the captain is a "take no prisoners" type of guy?

Next thing, captain keys the mike, asks tower for permission to stop taxiing, gets a puzzled okay, then brings the plane to a steady but nose-dipping stop.

Silence, except for a distant "yadda, yadda, yadda, stocks are up, shares are down......yadda...."

Then he keys the PA system, and says: "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. This is a personal message to the gentleman in seat D3. Sir, this plane is going nowhere until you switch off your cellphone. That's right, sir, you, the one on the phone in seat D3, you are entirely responsible for delaying take-off."

Click, dial tone...........silence.

[Mellivora capensis]

Or even "please switch off all......"

[BlackKnight]

Actually, I'd find the scenario in the OP slightly less annoying than loud cell phone users, and here's why:

My brain has certain filters, like every other human brain. Someone can be droning on in the background about something that I'm not paying any attention to whatsoever. Then suddenly I hear my name, and not only do I become conscious of my name but I become conscious of the couple of words before my name which I must have heard unknowingly. I'm sure that sort of thing happens from time to time to everyone.

One-sided conversations grab my attention like that. If two people are arguing it's easier for me to block them out. I'm not sure why. It's as if my brain considers conversations with multiple people to be normal background information. One-sided conversations, however, trip some trigger that causes an alert, "Abnormal background noise - conscious attention required!"

On those rare occassions when somebody really is talking to themselves loudly, it's just as annoying.

[swampbear]

People who insist on entertaining us with the intimate details of their personal lives and such in places like airports don't bother me. Especially since we're all there because we want to get somewhere else. The problems is places like restaurants, theaters, museums, churches etc. where people should know better. I sometimes wander if these people didn't often have withdrawal symptoms from not being able to yack away on the phone before the advent of cell phones. Maybe these are the same people who were always on public telephones before they had cell phones. I'll bet Superman complained about not having a place to change often because of inconsiderate public phone users.

I still have trouble grasping a scene I witnessed at a devotional following a Wednesday night church supper. A woman's cell phone rang during the devotional and she answered it and proceded to have a phone conversation right there! :eek: If ever God were going to smite someone for something that should have been it. I still say we should have taken her picture while she sat there on her phone, had it blown up and displayed in the church. I mean, sure it wasn't in the church proper, but she kept those of us around her from being able to listen to the devotional, not to mention the affront it had to have been to those three people who were leading the devotional. Oh, and the conversation? She was discussing the details of an upcoming bridal shower. YEEHAA!

[C K Dexter Haven]

I think it's the volume: People feel they need to speak loudly into the phone or they won't be heard. Normally, personal conversations are softer. And, it's the lack of understanding of the difference between private conversation and public conversation.

Pointless anecdote (names changed): I was sitting in the waiting room at the airport, on a flight back to Chicago. A guy is on his cell phone, speaking loud enough for everyone to hear. He's talking to someone about the Board Meeting this coming Sunday of the Suburban Cultural Arts Committee, and how they have to get Karen off the Board. She's out of touch and is an impediment to progress, but she's been around a long time, so they should set it up as offering her some non-board position, like heading up the Opera functions. THen he hangs up and calls someone else, gets an answering machine, and says, " This is Larry Smith, please call me back, my number is blah blah."

I was seriously thinking about picking up my cell phone and pretending to talk on it, loudly, saying, "Hey, Karen, this is Dex. I want you to know that Larry is going to try to weasle you off the board at the meeting on Sunday." I didn't have the guts, I was afraid he might confront me.

[DianaG]

One of the reasons I hate cell phones is that they allow... nay, encourage people to have extremely private conversations in extremely public places.

I think it's fun to intrude on the conversation when people do this. I'll cut in with some advice, and when they say (as they almost always do!) "This is a private conversation!" I respond "No, it's really, really not. When you say something out loud in front of God and the entire subway car, it's not private. Now that I know all your problems, let's talk about me. We're gonna be friends, I can tell!"

[Helen's Eidolon]

I agree with the OP. I chat on my cell phoone only in places where I'd find it acceptable to have a conversation with another person, particularly the bus. Once a woman flipped out, screamed and swore at me for talking too loudly/talking at all on my cell. Everyone else in the bus thought SHE was nuts.

And here's my philosophy - I love overhearing conversations on the bus. They entertain me to no end. So I like to give back to the world when I can.

[Jamaika a jamaikaiaké]

Actually, I'd find the scenario in the OP slightly less annoying than loud cell phone users, and here's why:

My brain has certain filters, like every other human brain. Someone can be droning on in the background about something that I'm not paying any attention to whatsoever. Then suddenly I hear my name, and not only do I become conscious of my name but I become conscious of the couple of words before my name which I must have heard unknowingly. I'm sure that sort of thing happens from time to time to everyone.

One-sided conversations grab my attention like that. If two people are arguing it's easier for me to block them out. I'm not sure why. It's as if my brain considers conversations with multiple people to be normal background information. One-sided conversations, however, trip some trigger that causes an alert, "Abnormal background noise - conscious attention required!"

On those rare occassions when somebody really is talking to themselves loudly, it's just as annoying.

I completely agree. It took me a while to figure out that this is what really bothers me about cell phones. If I'm in a realatively quiet room (say a coffee shop), and someone just says, "hello?" (not too loud, even, but like they are starting a conversation) I reflexively look up and see who it is.

On the other hand, eventually they will become commonplace enouh in our society, that in a generation or so, most people will have adapted.

[zelie zelerton]

i am hyper aware that having my phone ring when i'm in the cinema/at a funeral/receiving a papal blessing etc must be excruciatingly annoying for those around me who quite reasonably expect silence in such situations. Consequently i have put this song (http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/annoying/) on it as my ringtone.

What? If i am going to annoy folks they might as well get their money's worth! ;)

[gigi]

Have you ever seen "Trigger Happy TV" where the guy persists in walking around London shouting into a giant cellphone? Someone down the hall from me has the same ring tone as the dummy cell phone on there and every time it rings I convulse in laughter. That's not so bad.

[Kalhoun]

The One Side of the Stupid Cell Phone Conversation I Always Get to Hear

Dippy ring tone version of a Britney Spears song....
Hi. Nothin'. What are you doing?

Yeah. I know. Me neither.

What do you want to do tonight?

K. Call her and call me back.

Bye.

Dippy Ring tone version of a Britney Spears song...
Hi. Nothin'. So?

I hate her. She never wants to do anything.

K. Call me back.

(This would be way better if there was some way I could dot all the "i"s with pink hearts.)

[Cat Whisperer]

I don't agree with the OP's conclusion, either. A loud conversation in which I hear both sides is nowhere near as annoying to me as a loud cell phone conversation. I'm not entirely sure why this is, either, but it is. Maybe because when you hear both sides, you feel like a part of the conversation (a far away, only listening part), and when it's just one person shouting into a phone, you feel somewhat slighted, like they're shutting you out, if that makes any sense.

[Cat Whisperer]

I KILLING YOUR THREAD!!!!!







What?

[homeskillet]

I must admit I've been guilty of talking too loud on the phone myself.
I try to be mindful of my volume but sometimes I get carried away! :smack:

As far as I understand it, the reason people talk so loudly on cell phones is that unlike landlines, your voice is not played back through the receiver. This causes people to overcompensate for what is ironically perceived as talking too softly.

[Cat Whisperer]

Um, excuse me - I'm trying to kill a thread here.

{stomps off, muttering about some people's children...}

[Snag]

I must admit I've been guilty of talking too loud on the phone myself.
I try to be mindful of my volume but sometimes I get carried away! :smack:

As far as I understand it, the reason people talk so loudly on cell phones is that unlike landlines, your voice is not played back through the receiver. This causes people to overcompensate for what is ironically perceived as talking too softly.


That's right. Unfortunately, it is impossible to do this with a cell phone. Otherwise they would have done it. I'm sure.

[Rubystreak]

Here's something else that's annoying about cell phones. Ostensibly, people carry them so they can be more accessible to others. I don't have one because I don't want to be so easy to reach, but everyone I know who has one says they have it so they can be contacted when necessary... but it never works that way. All the time, people say they miss calls because they turned their phones off and forgot to turn them on, or the battery ran out, or they don't get reception, or they can't use the phone until after 9pm because they are out of minutes. Seems to me that all these problems kind of defeat the purpose of having a portable personal phone in the first place.

[DrDeth]

I think it's the volume: People feel they need to speak loudly into the phone or they won't be heard. Normally, personal conversations are softer. And, it's the lack of understanding of the difference between private conversation and public conversation..

That's part of it. Dudes do speak louder on the cell.

Next- well frankly dudes- if you are going to carry on a private conversation in public- for gods sakes dude- let me hear both sides of it, at least! :p

[zagloba]

That's right. Unfortunately, it is impossible to do this with a cell phone. Otherwise they would have done it. I'm sure.Why is it impossible?

[ladybug]

I saw a woman driving a Ford Excursion in a parking lot. She was using her left hand to hold the phone and the right hand was pawing at the steering wheel trying to make a left turn. Put the fucking phone down for FIVE SECONDS, won't you?

I was rear-ended a few weeks ago by a woman who was too busy chatting on her cell phone to notice that I'd stopped at a traffic light. She continued her conversation while we examined the damage to my car. :rolleyes:

[Cat Whisperer]

I was rear-ended a few weeks ago by a woman who was too busy chatting on her cell phone to notice that I'd stopped at a traffic light. She continued her conversation while we examined the damage to my car. :rolleyes:
"Yeah, that's right - I just hit someone! {Hahahaha}Yeah, I know, I'm such a ditz. So, when are you and Howard coming over? Do you want to bring...."

[Apos]

What I don't get are the new walkie-talkie bleeping phones. Just when I thought cell use had become basically tolerable and respectable again, out come these phones which combine a staticy speakerphone with constant walkie-talkie bee-boops. I mean, really. The way they get used reminds me a lot of boomboxes (or the people that turn their stereo system speakers to face out their windows so as to listen to music INSIDE THEIR APARTMENT): the whole point seems to be about displaying status symbols and confronting surrounding society with you and your noisy ass.

Cell tech could be so much better as a social tool, and it's getting there. The next big moves are:

-truly seamless handsfree systems (like SS mikes but even less obtrusive) that people keep in most all the time.
-true voice activated commands, dialing, etc. or an in-phone computer assistant with a simpler and less obtrusive physical interface
-more IM-like features, allowing you to know what people are "available" and what their network status is at all times, allowing you to contact any number of them at any time (with minimal or no dialtone negotiation depending on someone's status)
-phone service fee models becoming more like "always-on" internet (which will converge with phones anyway)

All this will radically change how people communicate with anyone they want to talk to being instantly at their fingertips and little cost effect for choosing to talk to anyone for however long you want. Want to talk to Jim? Call his name with the command key pressed, voice rec will connect you to him immediately, and you'll be able to talk to him without even waiting for a dialtone as long as he's open to that sort of call. And it's not very far away.

Imagine a whole generation that is going to grow up with the above as givens: it'll make the current texting generation look like neanderthals.

[Apos]

I forgot the punchline: think of how fucking annoying THAT will be to us old codgers. Whippersnappers will constantly be talking to totally random people out of the blue, without even lifting or opening a cellphone to distinguish their behavior from communicating with people locally.

[LonesomePolecat]

One-sided conversations grab my attention like that. If two people are arguing it's easier for me to block them out. I'm not sure why. It's as if my brain considers conversations with multiple people to be normal background information. One-sided conversations, however, trip some trigger that causes an alert, "Abnormal background noise - conscious attention required!"


Okay, here's an hypothesis. We tend to think of people talking to themselves, particularly if they are loud and/or vehement, as mentally disturbed and possibly a danger of some kind, and we do this on more or less an instinctive or subconscious level. People on cell phones appear to be talking to themselves. We transfer the aversion or fear we feel towards "mental cases" who talk to themselves to people on self-phones (especially if they're using a headset). They just look too much like people who hear little voices in their heads. I was in a restaurant with a relative once when I thought the solitary woman at the next table was talking to herself all through her meal. It made me feel creepy and rather annoyed with her, until I realized she was talking on a cellphone and using a head set.

[CanvasShoes]

I KILLING YOUR THREAD!!!!!







What?
Dang, that was funny :D (sorry, I hope this isn't too much of a zombie thread, if so MODs feel free to kill at will), but I'm sorry I was unavailable to get back to this thread and see the interesting comments.

[Runs With Scissors]

Here's something else that's annoying about cell phones. Ostensibly, people carry them so they can be more accessible to others. I don't have one because I don't want to be so easy to reach, but everyone I know who has one says they have it so they can be contacted when necessary... but it never works that way. All the time, people say they miss calls because they turned their phones off and forgot to turn them on, or the battery ran out, or they don't get reception, or they can't use the phone until after 9pm because they are out of minutes. Seems to me that all these problems kind of defeat the purpose of having a portable personal phone in the first place.


Ummm...they only say that when you call :p

[Mince]

I saw a woman driving a Ford Excursion in a parking lot. She was using her left hand to hold the phone and the right hand was pawing at the steering wheel trying to make a left turn. Put the fucking phone down for FIVE SECONDS, won't you?


I saw a person driving a vehicle. Her right hand was holding a cell phone to her ear. Her left hand was adjusting her hair. I could only hope her third hand was on the steering wheel.

[Nava]

I have a set of HUGE earphones for the computer. They're the kind that cover your eat completely; my mother always thinks it's funny when I have them on.

Mostly, I put them on when she's on the phone with Grandma, who is pretty deaf. I may not even have the music on, but just be using them as a noise-dampener. They're not good at all when she's on the cell with Grandma, though... she yells even louder.

And, even though they both yell so much that I've heard both sides of the conversation, once she hangs up she proceeds to tell it to me. Do you guys know if there's any country where that could be considered grounds for a claim of temporary insanity?

[Mangetout]

I find mobile phones annoying in public places because:
-Yes, some people talk loud in other contexts, but it is very much more common with mobiles
-You only get to hear half the conversation (you might argue the conversation is none of my business, and this would be true, if it was not conducted loudly), and this is annoying.
-The topic of conversation - or at least the half of it that it conducted loudly in my locality - is nearly always incredibly mundane and pointless (you might argue that I simply shouldn't pay any attention, and this would be possible, if it was quieter), and this is annoying.

Why is it annoying? I don't know - it just is; I'm not sure to what extent I can exercise choice over what things will and will not annoy me.

[Dunderman]

I forgot the punchline: think of how fucking annoying THAT will be to us old codgers. Whippersnappers will constantly be talking to totally random people out of the blue, without even lifting or opening a cellphone to distinguish their behavior from communicating with people locally.My mother's cousin is a psychiatrist, and she told me that hands-free cell phones are an actual problem in contemporary psychiatry, as all the people who walk around talking to themselves now see a bunch of other people walking around talking to themselves, so surely there's nothing strange about that?

[Ferret Herder]

I think it's a combination of the volume and the one-sided conversation triggering your cues that you're being asked a question and expected to respond. (Sort of like those awful moments when your attention drifts away and suddenly you realize that someone has said something important to you and is expecting your response - especially if that person is a teacher, your boss, etc.)

My husband got yelled at once by someone on the bus, for talking on his cell phone. Yes, he does have a naturally slightly loud voice (it's baritone and carries quite well, which is part of the issue). However, in his defense, the conversation that this woman was so offended by was quite obviously him learning that his father had colon cancer, and so yeah, he was distressed.

[Cheesesteak]

However, in his defense, the conversation that this woman was so offended by was quite obviously him learning that his father had colon cancer, and so yeah, he was distressed.Yet another problem with cell phones. People start having intensely personal and distrubing conversations on the bus. Obviously, Mr Herder couldn't control what was and wasn't revealed in that phone call, but when the cell becomes the typical way to contact someone, these conversations become instantly public. Seriously, a call like this doesn't need to be made ASAP, it can wait an hour until there is a bit of privacy available.

[chowder]

You'll have to speak up I can hardly hear youI KILLING YOUR THREAD!!!!!







What?

[Epimetheus]

Seems to me that all these problems kind of defeat the purpose of having a portable personal phone in the first place.

If it happened every time, sure. Really though, I assure you that this isn't the case. It happens, but this probably happens with one or two people. Most people I know keep their batteries charged, don't turn off their phones at all, and if they don't answer because it isn't convienent, they call back pretty quick.

[Epimetheus]

My mother's cousin is a psychiatrist, and she told me that hands-free cell phones are an actual problem in contemporary psychiatry, as all the people who walk around talking to themselves now see a bunch of other people walking around talking to themselves, so surely there's nothing strange about that?

Ha! I can see this.

I often drive with my earpiece in my ear, and there is one good thing about this and one bad(ish). The good is that I can sing along in my car and people think I am talking on my phone. The bad (could be good though, sometimes) is that when somebody cuts me off and I comment on it, it looks like I am just talking in my earpiece.

[Gangster Octopus]

I actually think it has been a whole since someone I have been to a movie where someone insisted on talking on their cell phone.

[elmwood]

I used to live in a suburb of Orlando where everybody and their cousin worked in construction and the building trades. Everybody had a Nextel phone grafted to thier hips, and you couldn't go more than a few minutes without hearing something like ...

BRAAAAP! grah brah garr barr fucking drywall arrr baa graa rough-in plumbing beeee la da garrr goddamn grading inspection braa darrr gdarrrr shit gagarrrr aaaag arrrrr rent a Bobcat ladarrrrr gaaaa arrr Dale Earnhardt druarrrr BRAAAAAP!

Thing was, since EVERYBODY had a Nextel phone, such interruptions were tolerated everywhere; restaurants, movie theaters, bookstores, you name it.

One memorable time, at a restaurant in my neighborhood, a Nextel beeped and sounded off the following ...

BRAAAAP! N****r n****r n****r n****r n****r n****r n****r n****r n****r n****r n****r n****r n****r n****r n****r n****r n****r n****r BRAAAAP!

Yup. Just some guy with a grizzled-sounding voice repeating the n-word. Good times. :rolleyes:

The chatterbox cell-addicted popular girls and soccer moms I encounter in the Cleveburg suburbs seems like blissful silence in comparison.

[Ferret Herder]

Yet another problem with cell phones. People start having intensely personal and distrubing conversations on the bus. Obviously, Mr Herder couldn't control what was and wasn't revealed in that phone call, but when the cell becomes the typical way to contact someone, these conversations become instantly public. Seriously, a call like this doesn't need to be made ASAP, it can wait an hour until there is a bit of privacy available.
Well true, I don't think that people should be calling their SOs from the train to hash out their latest argument in front of an audience, but in this particular case he wasn't the one who made the call. One of his sisters called him, and he answered it while we waited alone at the bus stop, no sign of a bus in sight at the moment and we didn't know when it was due to arrive.

I did understand the woman's point, but I didn't really dislike her until - after my husband had apologized, toned down and was being quite soft, mind you - she continued on a short soliloquy of bitching quite audibly about people's manners these days, stupid cell phones, etc., etc. The bus crowd consisted of the driver, her, my husband, and I. So now she was ranting on and beginning to disturb the other people on the bus. :)

I didn't elaborate earlier because I was on my way out the door and wasn't sure it was needed. I never talk on my cell phone in public unless it's short, to the point, non-dramatic, and I try to keep my voice down/duck my head into the window/move to the vestibule.

My husband's family also treat his cell phone and his work schedule very casually. It doesn't help that most of them have far different work schedules than he does or don't work, but I don't think it's that hard to remember that he works from early morning until some random time in the evening, 6 days a week, and that he isn't really supposed to use his cell at work unless on break. So optimistic as he can be, he assumes that daytime calls on his cell are always super-important. Instead he typically gets random crap that could have waited until the evening, even though he tells them to just leave a message on our home line the next time, and says he has to hang up. Now that his parents are both in somewhat poor health, he always fears what the call might be about if he doesn't answer.

So, boo to people who think that having a cell phone is an excuse to call that person and chat during work hours.

[E-Sabbath]

I forgot the punchline: think of how fucking annoying THAT will be to us old codgers. Whippersnappers will constantly be talking to totally random people out of the blue, without even lifting or opening a cellphone to distinguish their behavior from communicating with people locally.

What do you mean 'will be'? Welcome to the Bluetooth Headset age. It's more fun when people are holding more than one conversation at once.

[Ferret Herder]

I saw a person driving a vehicle. Her right hand was holding a cell phone to her ear. Her left hand was adjusting her hair. I could only hope her third hand was on the steering wheel.
Oh, my husband saw something like this; I've forgotten some of the details but will recap best I can. A woman in our town was driving along, cell in one hand, froofy little dog on her lap, coffee in the other hand. Probably steering with her knees, at that point, or making occasional adjustments with the coffee-holding hand. Anyway, the car in front of her had to stop suddenly for some unknown reason, and of course she was following closely enough, and was distracted enough, that this was a panic moment. She braked abruptly but not in enough time to avoid a fender-bender; the braking plus accident was enough to send her cell phone (a Razr, my husband noted) flying out the open window and shattering on the pavement, the coffee apparently splashing somewhere inside the car, and the little dog out of her lap and into the angle formed by the windshield and the dashboard. He was fairly certain that, unfortunately, the dog was probably injured, judging by the yelping. I noted that it was a good thing the impact wasn't enough to deploy the air bag, or else the little dog might've been splattered across the woman.

[Kevbo]

As far as I understand it, the reason people talk so loudly on cell phones is that unlike landlines, your voice is not played back through the receiver. This causes people to overcompensate for what is ironically perceived as talking too softly.

It's called sidetone, and there is no reason it can't be done, and many phones do. The handset needs to generate it locally. There is enough delay that if it were done as in a landline system, you would have an echo effect like the old transatlantic calls used to, which is very distracting.