I think I am getting a bad cse of phone rage too - I jsut screamed cos my own phone rang for a text messge while Iwas doing the REALLY important thing of watching Fawlty Towers!
Methinks this is going a tad too far – where’s the horror in taking a peek at my vibrating phone, see that it’s my wife calling, and deciding I need to step out of the room and answer the call because it might well be an emergency?
I mean, sure, if the phone ID read “Wife calling - she wants to ask you what you want for dinner”, that can be brushed off until later. But I don’t know of a cell phone with that level of detail…
Thats what Text messaging is for. :smack: I TM my hubby when I have a nonpressing question and he just calls me back when he gets out of his meeting. IF it’s an emergency I just put 911 in the message and he calls right back. (I’ve only used that once when my water broke and I had to go to the hospital while he was at work.) :eek:
How many people have had this INANE cell phone experience:
A company I used to work for in Boston had nice season tickets to the Red Sox. One night, I snagged them for me and MrValley. Midway through the (very exciting) game, the guy in front of us pulls out his cell phone. He proceeds to call someone and give play-by-play. If I wanted to hear dumb play-by-play, I would have stayed home and listened to the radio (as I’d like to point out, your friend could do). BUT NO, that was not enough.
He called a different friend who was apparently watching the game on TV. How do I know this? Because they chatted about the camera scanning the crowd. Can you see me now? I’m just right of home plate. I’m waving now. Can you see me now? ad nauseum…
Surely I cannot be the only one this has happened to…
P.S. Sauron I don’t have a cell phone either. Let’s start a movement. 
I think it’s time to reconsider some of the cell-phone jamming technologies that are legal in some countries other than the U.S.
My college graduation. Every other person was on a damn phone with someone in the crowd. There were tens of thousands in the stands and about 5 or so thousand of us on the field. All of us in purple caps and gowns. Yeah, they’re really gonna find you in the crowd.
:rolleyes:
And it was ESPECIALLY fun when the climbed on top of the chairs right in front or in back of you to be more easily spotted. Those freakin’ caps hurt when they’re being jammed into your back and the idiot behind you keeps climbing up and down from his chair. Not to mention the fact that everyone is screaming into their phones so they can be heard over the hundreds of other people on their phones.
Ah yes, graduation. Quite. A. Day.
I suppose you unplug your home telephone or ignore it ringing when you have guests over, yes?
lezlers, you and I need to go to the movies together. Mayb we can teach some people etiquette together. My SO is always shushing me for complaning about movie buttmunchers*.
I don’t think checking your Caller ID is a bad thing. Most of my cell calls are from my children. I’m taking those calls, I don’t care what you think.
I don’t really get the restaurant thing, but then again, I can talk on my cell phone in a normal tone, and I do keep it brief. As noted, I’m eating and more than likely not alone.
Call waiting–loving it. Call waiting ID is even better. I can decide which call is important. Example: I’m chatting with a friend about nothing, and someone in my family calls for an important reason. I’d like to be able to know that I should take the call.
I turn off the volume in the movies, but not elsewhere. But I only use my phone when I am making plans, checking on family, or in my home as free long distance.
*Cell phone talkers, slurpy kissers, kids running up and down the aisle, people talking out loud about the movie, and people who put their FEET on MY SEAT!
~J
I have a “good” one. I was in the washroom at work. The woman in the next stall was having a conversation on a cell phone–what they wanted to have for dinner that night, detailing the errands she had to run after work, etc. She was on the toilet having a dump at the same time!
Not only that, but after she flushed and came out, she stood in front of the row of sinks, ran her hands through her hair to fix it up a bit, and then left, all the while continuing her conversation.
So, this lovely piece of work not only had a conversation with someone as she took a dump, she also left without washing up.
Not to mention I hate to imagine that someone else had to listen to me taking a pee next door to this woman. Now when I hear people in stalls having casual conversations on the phone, I just go into a stall and repeatedly flush the toilet… hoping it’ll end their conversation so I can go in peace without broadcasting my business.
I love my cell phone. Why? Because I only use it for OUTGOING calls or calls from my family, which are generally of the “I’m on my way home now, anything you need me to pick up at the store on the way?” variety.
I also love my free long distance, and free weekends; I can call now-elderly Grandma Tiger every weekend and let her talk to me as long as she wants and she feels special and needed.
That being said, the unbelievable rudeness of cell phone usage is just amazing. I stood behind an actor’s agent in line at the post office for half an hour recently while she conversed with a client. At the end of the call, I could tell you every job that client has ever had, upcoming options she has available, etc., etc., etc. I knew her name. Does she know how many people in that line know that much about her life now? :eek:
I’m all in favor of banning cell phone use in most public places. Except by people who need it. Papa Tiger is often on call for the computer systems at the local electric utility. They page him – silently – on his pager. He then reads the message, and if need be goes outside and returns the call. We WANT our power to work, so we LIKE it when he takes these calls. But you know what? When he’s on call, he doesn’t go places where having to take or make cell phone calls will disturb other people! What a concept!
Pretty much ignore it 99% of the time when I have guests (the other 1% being when I’m expecting an urgent call). Have been known to turn the ringer off entirely. I have Caller ID and an answering machine that I can check at some convenient, non-
interrupting time–like, when my guest is in the bathroom. Or I might politely ask to be excused to check it, if I’m concerned about an emergency, rather than just assuming it’s OK to check it without asking while I’m supposed to be sharing a meal/watching a movie/having a conversation with my guests.
It’s called “courtesy,” numbnut.
Hell, growing up, we didn’t answer the phone during family mealtimes, either, even if we didn’t have guests. That was our time to catch up with each other, and I was raised to think it’s damned rude to run off to talk on the phone when there are people RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU who have good reason to expect your attention and interest.
I’ve been hoping things would get better as the novelty wore off. My patience has run out or I’m just becoming a bitch because now I speak up about the bad behavior, within reason of course.
On a recent second (and last) date, the guy actually took a call during dinner. I gave him a disbelieving look and he apologized, but it gave me pause. Throughout the rest of the evening he did little things that showed me he had very high asshole potential. When he asked for another date, I said no thank you please. “It was the cell wasn’t it?” “Ummm, yeah, pretty much.”
My cousin is still angry at me for taking his phone away from him. After nearly driving off the road for the millionth time I asked if I could borrow his phone. I kept it the rest of the drive-- hey, I didn’t say how long I was gonna borrow it!
Oh, and I always confiscate cell phones on campus, no second chances. My fellow teachers who complain about calls interrupting lectures always seem to be the ones who let the kids keep their phones once they’ve rung. Hmmmm… a connection maybe?
That’s still good policy. IMO, why answer the phone just because it rings? That’s why we have asnwering machines. Occasionally I’m doing stuff that’s more important than answering a call.
Now there are times when I’m expecting a call. And if I should run into someone at that time, I’ll let them know, so as not to be rude.
Count me in. Ain’t got one, Don’t want one.
Rigel
I’ve had people at the bar try to order a drink/food/whatever from me while they’re on the phone.
I simply won’t do it. I have no intention of neglecting my other customers while trying to figure out who the moron is talking to, or what the hell they want. If you don’t have enough courtesy to hang up the damn phone–or at least stop your conversation long enough to address me like a human being–I’ve got better shit to do. People love giving me that “I’m holding my hand up which means wait for a moment until I’m done with my life-changing phone call” and they actually expect me to just stand there? Are they crazy?
I just walk away.
Which usually means they suddenly find a way to finish their call, and then they get all pissy with me when I don’t drop what I’m doing to rush over there now that they’re ready to tell me what they want.
:rolleyes:
You know, just because this is the Pit, there’s no obligation to resort to name-calling. Believe it or not, your peculiar brand of courtesy is not the be-all and end-all of manners.
Let’s just say I’d find it faintly ridiculous to be talking in someone’s house while their phone continually rang unanswered in the background. I’d have no problem with them excusing themselves to answer it, just as I’d prefer to them to answer the door if someone was banging on it. Equally, I wouldn’t have a hissy fit if a friend glanced at their caller ID while we were chatting.
I just keep mine on silent most of the time, and if I’m doing stuff, I turn it off. In Ireland, my network provider diverts the unanswered call through to a message service so the caller can leave a message, or else they just send me a text.
The way I see it is my phone is there as a convenience to me; I’m not under obligation to take a call. Although its funny sometimes to see how irritated people get when they cant contact you. This instant-gratification no-delay age of technology has raised expectations a lot!
BTW those dicks on phones on the bus are a major peeve of mine too. Very tempting to have a little chat with their kneecaps with by surgical 2 X 4
If you’re having a face-to-face conversation with someone, looking at your caller ID while the other person is speaking is kind of like checking your watch. It looks like a gesture of boredom and distraction unless you give a brief explanation: “I told Junior to call me if he had an emergency–pardon me.”
I really hate it when people talk on the cell phone while driving: weaving in and out of the lanes, slowing down & speeding up erratically, running stop signs. Grrrrrrr…
Last year at Broadway on Broadway. Big free outdoor event in Times Square. Each cast does one song from their show. It’s held every September on a Sunday. 2002 was really poignant, because the last one had been held on Sunday, September 9, 2001.
The ass standing next to me made a cell phone call for every song. “Guess where I am, Guess who this is.” Holds up cell phone. “Can you hear that? I’m at Broadway on Broadway and that was…” Talked on her cell phone the entire time. Lady, if your friends wanted to see the show, they would come with you. I just wanted to show the thing up her butt.
I think things have gotten worse precisely because the novelty has worn off. In the early days of mobile phones, when very few people had them, those who did were a little more self-conscious about when to use them and how they affected other people. Now that so many people have them, they seem to figure, “Hey, everyone will understand my need to take a call in the restaurant.” Those who use cellphones at inappropriate times apparently think that the phones are now such a part of our society that it is acceptable to use them anywhere and at any time.
And count me in the “don’t have one, don’t want one” movement.