# Cell phones are a plague upon peaceful fall evenings **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 30, 2010, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-are-a-plague-upon-peaceful-fall-evenings/555672 "2010-09-30T23:25:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![hansel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6bbea6/32.png) [@hansel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hansel)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-are-a-plague-upon-peaceful-fall-evenings/555672/41 "2010-10-03T21:08:59Z")
> [@Palooka](#): > > Hey, man. The cell phone didn’t do anything to you. Just tell at her to that shit to Facebook, next time. > > \*Last edited by Palooka; 09-30-2010 at 06:42 PM. \* Funny how, even after editing, it’s still a grammatical trainwreck. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-are-a-plague-upon-peaceful-fall-evenings/555672/42 "2010-10-03T22:48:19Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > But cell phones are asshole magnifiers. Back in the old days, the fact that telephones were fastened to the wall reduced the ability for people to be assholes everywhere and all the time. Yes, and phones in public places were often fastened inside little [privacy boxes](http://www.payphone-project.com/gallery/New_York_City/IMG_0215), as well. It was a good design. It was a good design in particular because talk tends to be louder on a phone (any phone) than in person. It’s the lack of shared environment and nonverbal cues and channels for communication. It’s always a little harder to tell whether one is understanding properly and being understood, in phone conversations versus the same talk in person. Talking on the phone in a sense is more _work,_ and as far as I can tell almost everybody unconsciously compensates some with volume. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-are-a-plague-upon-peaceful-fall-evenings/555672/43 "2010-10-03T23:48:32Z")
> [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](#): > > What is it with this board and cell phones? We have several threads where people either don’t have them and/or don’t like them, or feel like they’re trapped by them because they don’t want to be at other people’s beck and call. A while back I did a “Things You Only Hear On The SDMB” thread, and “Cellphone Hate” was, if not at the top, then very near the top of that list- along with “Not owning a TV by choice” and other such weirdness that I’ve never encountered in the real world. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-are-a-plague-upon-peaceful-fall-evenings/555672/44 "2010-10-03T23:54:45Z")
I still bow in respect to a man in a Chinese restaurant about three years ago. Another patron’s phone rang and he began having a very loud conversation, smack in the center of the place. Another man walked over, leaned in close and advised him that the rest of us didn’t need to hear his conversation and perhaps he should either take it outside of talk a bit more softly. The man with the phone got up, walked outside and finished his conversation. When he came back in, he walked up to the other man and apologized for his rudeness. And actually, I respect that too. He didn’t throw a fit, or get angry at the first guy for saying something, or try to ignore him. He got up, went outside until he was done, then came back in and apologized. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-are-a-plague-upon-peaceful-fall-evenings/555672/45 "2010-10-04T12:56:24Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I’m just amazed at the crappy cell service you Americans seem to have. I mean, I speak on the phone with my regular indoor conversation voice, at the loudest, yet people have no problem understanding me. For longer conversations I invariably put my earphones in, hold the speaker to my mouth, and speak at a murmur. That’s got nothing to do with the cell service, I keep having to remind my mother that when she’s on the phone she’s trying to convey information through the phone, not by air. “There’s no need to shout, Mom. Mom, if you shout I can’t understand you. Mom, I’m taking the headset off unless you lower your volume now.” “Oh, but I’m excited!” “That’s fine and lovely, you’re excited and my ears are hurting. Lower the volume; I’m your daughter, not your mother.” ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-are-a-plague-upon-peaceful-fall-evenings/555672/46 "2010-10-04T15:43:33Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > I still bow in respect to a man in a Chinese restaurant about three years ago. > > Another patron’s phone rang and he began having a very loud conversation, smack in the center of the place. Another man walked over, leaned in close and advised him that the rest of us didn’t need to hear his conversation and perhaps he should either take it outside of talk a bit more softly. The man with the phone got up, walked outside and finished his conversation. When he came back in, he walked up to the other man and apologized for his rudeness. > > And actually, I respect that too. He didn’t throw a fit, or get angry at the first guy for saying something, or try to ignore him. He got up, went outside until he was done, then came back in and apologized. That is moving. A similar scenario at a Chuck E. Cheese’s would result in 12 people dead. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-are-a-plague-upon-peaceful-fall-evenings/555672/47 "2010-10-05T16:01:16Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > > [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > > > Who says our networks can’t handle iPhones? > > [Creative Solutions to iPhone Service Woes - The New York Times](http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/28/attfail/) Yeah, AT&T is a shitty network with shitty coverage, period. It has nothing to do with an iPhone–they just have a bad network. Swing and a miss; care to try again, or are you going to just admit that you were fucking wrong and had no clue what you were talking about? > [@hansel](#): > > Funny how, even after editing, it’s still a grammatical trainwreck. Beyond that–I’d call it a \*syntactical \*trainwreck. > [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > A while back I did a “Things You Only Hear On The SDMB” thread, and “Cellphone Hate” was, if not at the top, then very near the top of that list- along with “Not owning a TV by choice” and other such weirdness that I’ve never encountered in the real world. You need to get out more, then. People everywhere complain about the way everyone else uses cellphones, and I’d met people who don’t own a TV by choice (besides myself!) before I started posting here. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-are-a-plague-upon-peaceful-fall-evenings/555672/48 "2010-10-05T16:15:47Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > It wasn’t meant as a whoosh - it’s just that after reading all these stories about people shouting into phones like it was 1995, plus the fact that your networks can’t handle iPhones and that you guys still have to pay for incoming calls, I sort of inferred that the U.S. has essentially crappy cell service. The US is behind Europe and Japan when it comes to cell phone tech, true, but I can vouch that it’s AT&T’s problem specifically. I have a top-line Android smartphone on Verizon’s network, and I’ve had nothing but crystal clear calls on it. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-are-a-plague-upon-peaceful-fall-evenings/555672/49 "2010-10-05T22:56:56Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > > [@Alessan](#): > > > > It wasn’t meant as a whoosh - it’s just that after reading all these stories about people shouting into phones like it was 1995, plus the fact that your networks can’t handle iPhones and that you guys still have to pay for incoming calls, I sort of inferred that the U.S. has essentially crappy cell service. > > The US is behind Europe and Japan when it comes to cell phone tech, true, but I can vouch that it’s AT&T’s problem specifically. I have a top-line Android smartphone on Verizon’s network, and I’ve had nothing but crystal clear calls on it. The whole SHOUTING INTO YOUR PHONE thing does seem to be an American trait, though- whilst every country has idiots who talk on their phone during movies etc, it’s only in America that I’ve witnessed people actually SHOUTING into their phone in public. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-are-a-plague-upon-peaceful-fall-evenings/555672/50 "2010-10-05T23:37:35Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > > [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](#): > > > > What is it with this board and cell phones? We have several threads where people either don’t have them and/or don’t like them, or feel like they’re trapped by them because they don’t want to be at other people’s beck and call. > > A while back I did a “Things You Only Hear On The SDMB” thread, and “Cellphone Hate” was, if not at the top, then very near the top of that list- along with “Not owning a TV by choice” and other such weirdness that I’ve never encountered in the real world. Well, see, this is where the _smart_ people come. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-are-a-plague-upon-peaceful-fall-evenings/555672/51 "2010-10-05T23:39:25Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > > [@Alessan](#): > > > > [Creative Solutions to iPhone Service Woes - The New York Times](http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/28/attfail/) > > Yeah, AT&T is a shitty network with shitty coverage, period. It has nothing to do with an iPhone–they just have a bad network. Swing and a miss; care to try again, or are you going to just admit that you were fucking wrong and had no clue what you were talking about? > . If you’d read the thread - the one you’re reading right now - you’d have seen that my point was that American cell phone service was often crappy; you’ve just proved me right by saying that one of the biggest cellular providers in the U.S. does indeed provide crappy service. I guess I must have \*some \*clue about what I’m talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-are-a-plague-upon-peaceful-fall-evenings/555672/52 "2010-10-06T16:30:08Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > it’s only in America that I’ve witnessed people actually SHOUTING into their phone in public. In Japan, I learned the neat trick of cupping my hand over my mouth with the phone also under it when I need to make a call somewhere like on a bus. It’s great–I can have a conversation without feeling like an ass. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-are-a-plague-upon-peaceful-fall-evenings/555672.md?page=2)