Annie-Xmas probably meant talking on the phone, not quietly reading to yourself.
ETA: although we let restaurant-goers talk, so I wonder why it is so rude to talk over the phone. Perhaps something about the person being physically present in the restaurant?
~Max
Okay, I’ll give you reading or texting if you’re in public by yourself, but NOT around other people or while driving or even walking. But the idiots gabbing away on the bus or in my checkout lines, not to mention libraries, should be banned for life.
Seriously. What makes you think I want to hear your prattle?
Do you consider someone traveling or shopping alone while talking on the phone to be any less respectful than two people traveling or shopping together while talking? Why?
I have a gut feeling that it is somehow rude, but I just can’t put my finger on the reason. Perhaps the conversant’s lack of physical presence means I instinctively pretend they don’t exist, and it seems the traveler/shopper is talking out loud for no reason other than to annoy me.
~Max
Or wait for 5G where the reception will be cut off by–well–pretty much everything, including a few hundred feet of air.
Do you maintain the same type of hatred for two people talking to each other in person on the bus or in your checkout lines? Because I’m having a hard time seeing why you would annoyed by ONE person talking, but not TWO people talking in your checkout lines.
No, I don’t. But people on their cell phones drive me batty:
I 100% agree with you here. Every morning, I get coffee at 7-11 at 6:30 am. At least 3 days a week, someone is getting coffee, standing in line, getting rung up while talking about some stupid shit on their phone. Takes them forever to get coffee while balancing the phone between their head and their shoulder. And they hold up the line while talking and scrounging through some huge purse for a nickel. What is SO important at 6:30 in the morning that you can’t stop talking for 5 minutes?
I’ve seen people who can pull their credit cards out of their cell phone case without missing a beat. But try to get them to insert it into the card reader and follow the directions while gabbing away. But the ones that drive me the battiest are those who don’t realize it’s their turn at the register. After saying twice “Next on line. Register 4 is open” and getting no response, I have to step out from the register, go on line and physically touch them to get a response. “You’re next. May I have your items, please?” And they go on gabbing.
ETA: And they don’t have their wallet or cards out when I give them the amount for payment. So I and everyone else have to wait while they do the phone on the ear and look for their wallet. Maybe you should have been finding your wallet instead of gabbing on the phone.
I think the signals are reflected more than absorbed at these frequencies. In any case, copper wouldn’t significantly affect the signal differently than the steel already in use for vehicles.
The issue might be that when two people are both present in the line and talking, they are both aware of what’s happening around them and their flow of conversation will naturally adjust to accommodate what’s happening. With a phone conversation, one side is completely unaware that the other side has moved to the front of the queue and won’t helpfully pause or give a nudge and say “we are up” etc.
Fair enough. I’m cool with chastisement if they are holding up a line or whatever, but that doesn’t seem to be cell phone dependent. Some people are just never paying attention to their surroundings. MOVE, people!
When all this technology first came out, I made up a simple rule: When two or more people are assembled for a single purpose, put that damn device away. II wish more people followed it.
Sunday a person missed ringing the bus stop button because they were on the device, then complained to the driver that they didn’t stop. The driver said (direct quote): “What you didn’t ring the bell because you were too busy looking at the fucking screen?” I got into an interest conversation about people and their devices.
I’m many years removed from being a teen and I averaged 11 hours and 30 minutes of screen time last week on my phone.
I’m far from a libertarian, but government needs to do nothing about mobile phone use and it’s not an epidemic. It’s also not an addiction. Ten years ago, I’d be typing this post on a desktop computer, now I’m using my iPhone. I think it’s great that I can talk with people all
over the world. Just yesterday I was discussing the Twilight Zone with one of the most prominent political science professors in the USA over Twitter.
It’s not an addiction? Could you go a whole day without using your device?
One of my nieces had a daughter who was addicted to texting. She sat that child down, put her device on the table and offered her $100 for every hour she did not. At the end of 18 hours, the daughter was $300 richer.
Not an addiction? Right.
You say this while posting on an internet message board.
But it’s from a desktop computer, so that is so much different. :rolleyes:
Could you go a whole day without using a credit card, looking at the time, using a map, looking up a bus/subway timetable, for business and personal email, etc. While yes I know that you could, why do you think any of those things constitutes “an addiction”?
Oh right, phones are only used for texting 20 hours a day. Got it.
I just went three days without a computer because the libraries were closed for the Memorial Day weekend. No withdrawal symptoms.
This is stupid. Who cares if I could? The point is why would I? To be an addiction, an activity needs to be done in such a way as to be ruining your life. While constantly using a device might be used in such a ruinous way, I think for most people it is enhancing their lives.
How long do you think you could go without judging people for doing something that doesn’t affect you in any way?