While looking up something for the other cell phone thread, I found this article. The thought that some men are trying to attract women with their phone use struck me as bizarre. It seems to be the completely wrong approach to me, because I assume guys who are always on the phone are talking to their girlfriends/wives… so to me constant phone use sends the signal that they’re taken, not that they’re on the prowl. Maybe it’s just me who is making that assumption. Let’s see!
Ladies:
There’s a guy in your acquaintance who is always on the phone. Let’s make him a coworker or classmate, since we see them often, and say that you observe him on the phone at least once a day when he’s on break or between classes and is clearly making calls because he wants to rather than for work.
a. If you make any assumptions about who he’s talking to, who would you guess is receiving the bulk of his calls?
b. Do you too believe guys who are in relationships spend more time on the phone than those who aren’t?
Gents:
If you fit the description of that guy, who are you actually talking to so often that you’re calling during your breaks? If you’re not that guy but know him, you could answer for him if you know who he’s calling.
What do you think about that point in the article: completely BS or truthful of some men you know?
I ain’t that guy, and it makes no sense at all that it would make you more attractive by jabbering on the phone, but that’s just me.
The article sounds like complete BS, except in the case where you have some lust inducing device that just came out. I was at Sundance when Blackberries first came out. I had never seen one in the wild, but at the film festival, I was probably the ONLY person who didn’t have one.
Some men do seem to use their phone rather ostentatiously, strutting up and down and talking louder than necessary - I see this a lot on station platforms during my journey to work. It does look like deliberate attention-seeking, to me anyway, and I find it rather comical (I’m female, BTW).
It’s more unusual to see women doing this, but it does happen occasionally - I did once see a woman get heckled on a train for very loudly proclaiming that she couldn’t talk now because she was on the train and her highly important conversation might be overheard, etc., etc.
I don’t know why anyone today would think this. Maybe ten years ago but not today.
In any case, it should be clear who he’s talking to just by listening to what he says. Does he finish the call by saying, “Love you,” or just, “See you tomorrow”?
It used to be that every other woman who I saw waiting in a line would immediately pull out her cell phone and play with it, rather than, say, read a newspaper or book. Not talking. Just checking messages, apparently.
Now men do it too. Probably about 80% of all people I see who are in some situation where they have to wait play with their phone in order to pass the time.
I don’t make assumptions about who people are talking to on the phone. Mostly I just wonder what the heck the deal is that they can’t *not *talk to someone constantly. Then again, I think I’m a phone anomoly - mine rarely leaves my car. I hate talking on any phone and I consider it to be a necessary evil. Of course, I’m also old and crabby and… Quit using your cell phones on my lawn, you rotten kids!!!
Honestly, most of the time my reaction to folks of either sex on the phone is public is that they’re annoying - probably because the ones I notice are, in fact, annoying. If they’re using their phones and not being obnoxious, they’re not even on my radar.
I will say that ignoring a real, live companion to answer your phone or check your texts (unless you’ve got a legitimate ongoing emergency situation) is beyond rude. If you interrupt your conversation with me to text “LOL” back to your brother’s girlfriend, I’m not going to be impressed…
As a university instructor, I see students who can’t sit in a classroom without constant attention to their phones. I ask them to shut them off, or at least put them on vibrate. They comply, but can’t bring themselves to actually put the phones away. They hold them. They gaze at them lovingly, yearningly, waiting for the moment when they can bolt from the classroom and start talking or texting.
They’re like a baby’s pacifier. Only they’re an adult pacifier.