# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/21 "2013-09-07T01:42:15Z")
People, isn’t the OP saying that it isn’t the fact that he was on the phone the whole time, but the odd way he was holding it that was the problem? 45 degree angle, held as if he were shaving his sideburns…let’s read for content, folks! And really…have you never been in a big-box store or grocery store where you ended up going up and down the same aisles either behind someone or passing them face-to-face as you each traverse each aisle? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/22 "2013-09-07T01:52:58Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > 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… Huh. There was actually a study on race and cell phone usage, but I’m not sure what to make of it, if anything. > **[HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News](https://www.huffpost.com/)** > > Read the latest headlines, news stories, and opinion from Politics, Entertainment, Life, Perspectives, and more. ---
**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 7, 2013, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/23 "2013-09-07T02:02:25Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > People, isn’t the OP saying that it isn’t the fact that he was on the phone the whole time, but the odd way he was holding it that was the problem? 45 degree angle, held as if he were shaving his sideburns…let’s read for content, folks! And really…have you never been in a big-box store or grocery store where you ended up going up and down the same aisles either behind someone or passing them face-to-face as you each traverse each aisle? Precisely, and thanks. I did not go out of my way to follow this guy, he was just around every corner. Even the checkout gal was asking me what was up with the phone bit after he left. She was black, btw. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/24 "2013-09-07T02:20:08Z")
Holding the phone flat against his face may make his ear get hot or irritated. I can only go about 10 minutes before I have to shift the phone, myself. If we’re going to bitch about cell phone users, let’s bitch about the assholes who put their phone on speaker and then just hold it in front of their face. If I weren’t so damn quiet and unassuming, I’d snatch their phones and chuck 'em at the nearest wall for that shit. ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/25 "2013-09-07T02:22:20Z")
I just called a genuine bona-fide young black man and asked him. His answer? Terrified of honkies. Every time he goes shopping at Costco he feels like he’s in some whites only club that he somehow accidentally got a membership card for. In the sea of khaki-panted-men-with-lists and indoor-sunglasses-wearing-soccer-moms-drinking-Starbucks, he’s a lone speck of blackness and he feels exposed and vulnerable. He can’t wear his cartoonishly baggy pants because he can’t hold them up while pushing a cart full of bulk foodstuffs and office supplies and they won’t let him strap a 9. His best defense is to make a scary-black-man-don’t-give-a-f face and act like he’s on the phone with other black men who are staged and ready to provide backup if needed. I thought he was shitting me, but he answered really quickly and I could hear a forklift backing up in the background and he paused his conversation with me several times to act interested in what various sample ladies were saying. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/26 "2013-09-07T03:14:56Z")
He didn’t want to look like white guys with a bluetooth thingy growing out of their ear, walking around talking into the air. ---
**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 7, 2013, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/27 "2013-09-07T03:17:47Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Precisely, and thanks. I did not go out of my way to follow this guy, he was just around every corner. Even the checkout gal was asking me what was up with the phone bit after he left. She was black, btw. Why did you indicate his race in the OP? ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/28 "2013-09-07T05:24:44Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > 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. But the [Twain House](http://www.marktwainhouse.org/) is in Hartford! ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/29 "2013-09-07T05:34:11Z")
Frankly, I hate holding my cellphone to ear. I prefer to use my bluetooth earpieces. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/30 "2013-09-07T07:32:04Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > For “20 minutes”? The “entire time” he was in the store, even “to checkout”? > > Why? Did his Windsong stay on your mind? I laughed and laughed at this. I haven’t laughed so hard at a post in months. Thank you for that. _wipes away a tear and salutes_ ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/31 "2013-09-07T07:47:18Z")
Was it a hot day? I often hold my phone oddly out like that if I have to talk on it at work, trying to prevent oily sweaty face schmutz from getting all over the capacitive screen. ---
**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 7, 2013, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/32 "2013-09-07T14:00:31Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Why did you indicate his race in the OP? I specifically said it’s something I’ve only seen youngish black guys do. The question, in part, is whether it’s some sort of social/cultural thing. All the attempts to read racism into it are sad and wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/33 "2013-09-07T14:12:10Z")
Well if the black lady at the checkout doesn’t know, why the hell do you think any of us will? Next time you see a youngish black guy doing this, why don’t you ask _him_? ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/34 "2013-09-07T14:26:38Z")
Maybe it’s caused by the same gene that makes all of them hold their pistols sideways. > [@madmonk28](#): > > Why did you indicate his race in the OP? And in the title, no less. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/35 "2013-09-07T14:34:16Z")
White people hold their phones like _this_, but black people hold their phones like _this_. ---
**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 7, 2013, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/36 "2013-09-07T14:39:30Z")
I think it’s some kind of gang sign. ---
**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 7, 2013, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/37 "2013-09-07T14:53:48Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Well if the black lady at the checkout doesn’t know, why the hell do you think any of us will? You’re absolutely right, Hap. No more fucking questions on the board unless you already know the answer! ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/38 "2013-09-07T14:57:49Z")
I read the following joke on the dope, and this seems like a good place to share it. Do you know who likes waatermelon and fried chicken? Everybody! ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/39 "2013-09-07T15:08:56Z")
> [@](#): > > You’re absolutely right, Hap. > > No more fucking questions on the board unless you already know the answer! My suggestion is to ask a youngish black man why they do it, specifically one who you saw perform such a contortion. That being said, the reason you’re getting all this shit is because this was a really weird thing to ask, but more importantly, it was presented in a really, really, really weird way. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169/40 "2013-09-07T16:11:32Z")
Can we add an item to the SDMB “Rules, Guidelines, Etiquette” thread about thinking twice before starting a “Why do black people do this?” thread? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-guys-with-a-phone-growing-out-of-their-head/668169.md?page=3)