# Black guys with a phone growing out of their head **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 6, 2013, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169 "2013-09-06T12:37:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/1 "2013-09-06T12:37:15Z")
I saw something I hadn’t seen for a while, but then, I do live within blast radius of the city [Dave Chappelle thinks should be nuked](http://www.tmz.com/2013/09/04/dave-chappelle-f-k-hartford-ct-i-will-never-go-back/) for being full of “white alcoholics.” My daughter and I followed a youngish (mid-20s) black guy around Sam’s Club as he manipulated a relatively heavily loaded flat cart with one hand and held his phone to his ear at a 45-degree angle with the other… for the entire time. Maybe 20 minutes of shopping. He was muttering quietly into the phone every time we passed him. He ended up in the checkout line ahead of us, conversed/argued with the checker over the goods (apparently he was told a different price for one item), went to pay, ended up going back into the store without completing the purchase… all without removing the phone from his cheekbone. I recall seeing this behavior in years past but not recently. It always seems to be young or youngish black guys. In Seinfeldese, what the hell is up with that? (By the way, Dave, don’t let the door hitcha in the ass…) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/2 "2013-09-06T12:43:21Z")
I’ve seen plenty of whites, asians, hispanics, young, old, male, female all doing the same thing. It’s a HUMAN thing where their conversation is more important than any incidental activity they may be engaged in. While I don’t do it in public, I certainly do the same thing in my apartment. I may _mostly_ sit back and converse, but I will sometimes walk around performing little tasks while I talk. Especially if it’s my mother and she just wants to prattle on about stuff I don’t care about. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/3 "2013-09-06T12:49:22Z")
The actual science is somewhat technical, but essentially the high levels of melanin in black skin cause it to be more adhesive, particularly toward the most commonly used polymers and coatings on the exterior shells of many popular cell phone brands. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/4 "2013-09-06T12:50:47Z")
Is it price comparison shopping by phone? Someone on the other end is internet checking to see if “sale” items are a bargain or not? I’ve seen it while shopping at Best Buy from people of many races & age groups. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/5 "2013-09-06T12:56:25Z")
This is going to go _great_. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/6 "2013-09-06T12:57:14Z")
Well, at least he wasn’t doing all that while driving. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/7 "2013-09-06T13:19:43Z")
It’s not just being on the phone without a break, it’s the peculiar style - holding the phone as if he’s using it to shave his sideburn. It’s all very affected-looking, and I’ve only seen younger black guys doing it. I thought it might have been a fad that passed, which is why I was surprised to see it yesterday. He didn’t even move it while arguing with the clerk. People on the phone, especially with an earexcrescence? All the time. (I like the description of people Making Sure Everyone Knows they have a Jawbone in and on and in use as the “ostentatiously connected.” I always think the big bright LEDs make a perfect sniper target.) But people walking around as if the phone was glued sideways to their head and their fingers, decaminute after decaminute? Not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/8 "2013-09-06T13:56:53Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > …holding the phone as if he’s using it to shave his sideburn… There’s an app for that. ---
**Author:** ![Mithras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mithras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithras)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/9 "2013-09-06T14:05:15Z")
I’ve known people who pretend to be on the phone whenever they feel like they’re being followed by someone who might not have the best of intentions. Maybe the guy just didn’t like the looks of you and your daughter. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/10 "2013-09-06T14:21:25Z")
I’ve seen all kinds of people who walk around with a phone glued to their ear, having just a constant conversation. It’s one of those moments when I honestly can’t figure out what they are doing. It’s like they are receiving instructions for their entire lives “okay, walk to the cereal aisle, do you see the corn flakes? buy those.” I’ve never noticed that black people do this more than other people. ---
**Author:** ![SirGalahad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71c47a/32.png) [@SirGalahad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirGalahad)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/11 "2013-09-06T14:32:02Z")
I’ve seen a majority of young people out on dates in restaurants sit and check their smart-phones/ text through the entire meal, hardly talking to each other if at all … it’s the phones, not the people. These computer phones are evil. Evil. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/12 "2013-09-06T14:40:11Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > My daughter and I followed… For “20 minutes”? The “entire time” he was in the store, even “to checkout”? Why? Did his Windsong stay on your mind? ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/13 "2013-09-06T14:50:08Z")
I was at that Chappelle show here in Chicago, which was amazing, and I and the rest of the crowd agreed with him that the world would be better off without Hartford. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/14 "2013-09-06T14:51:21Z")
Gotta make sure he wasn’t shoplifting, after all. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/15 "2013-09-06T14:51:57Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > For “20 minutes”? The “entire time” he was in the store, even “to checkout”? > > Why? Did his Windsong stay on your mind? He already told you the guy was black. OP, you’re not doing much to dispel Chappelle’s notions regarding the Hartford area. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/16 "2013-09-06T14:56:33Z")
Even that particular way of holding the phone doesn’t seem to be a racial thing. If anything, it’s a particular group of people, who want to show a sort of nonchalance associated with wealth. I see it in young business people and in young men who either have an illicit source of money or want to imply that they do. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/17 "2013-09-06T14:57:28Z")
he should have bought the Big Bag of Rubber Bands in office supplies. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/18 "2013-09-06T15:06:35Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > I’ve seen all kinds of people who walk around with a phone glued to their ear, having just a constant conversation. It’s one of those moments when I honestly can’t figure out what they are doing. It’s like they are receiving instructions for their entire lives “okay, walk to the cereal aisle, do you see the corn flakes? buy those.” > > I’ve never noticed that black people do this more than other people. Same here. And from what I’ve seen, they’re usually white women. I saw some of that when I worked at the grocery store (and I left THAT place in 2002!) and I always wondered who they were talking to because they were never with anyone else except their (quite likely neglected) children if they had any. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/19 "2013-09-06T15:33:30Z")
I realize that it’s probably not the most open environment for someone to fess up, but I’d be interested to hear from someone who does walk around with a phone glued to his/her ear all the time. I’d love to know who they are talking to, what they talk about and why they can’t wait until a more convenient time to make the call. Also, the OP kind of makes Dave Chapelle’s point about Hartford. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/20 "2013-09-06T15:38:35Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Also, the OP kind of makes Dave Chapelle’s point about Hartford. Right? “Can you believe the things Dave Chappelle says about Hartford? Why he says we’re all a bunch of white assholes. Well, anyway, I was following this black fellow around the grocery store for twenty minutes…” I’ll note that Chappelle didn’t call the people in Hartford racist. I’m pretty sure he never brought race into it except to say he wishes he could have had a “Kramer moment.” OP, maybe the guy stayed on his phone because he mistook you for the next George Zimmerman. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169.md?page=2)