# I pit people who are constantly complaining about cell phones **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 21, 2004, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-are-constantly-complaining-about-cell-phones/251457 "2004-06-21T15:51:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-are-constantly-complaining-about-cell-phones/251457/41 "2004-06-21T21:03:06Z")
Oh, and I’m pretty sure that had they been aware of it, the folks whose lives were probably saved by multiple quick 911 calls on the interstate west of Ashville, NC after their mini-SUV hit a guardrail and virtually disintegrated, were probably fairly pro-cell phone. And I was even happier my girlfriend had a cell phone last week when she broke down on the road in the middle of nowhere, and was able to call me for help. ---
**Author:** ![Thaumaturge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@Thaumaturge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thaumaturge)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-are-constantly-complaining-about-cell-phones/251457/42 "2004-06-21T21:04:51Z")
> [@Indygrrl](#): > > Well, I’ll keep ranting about them as long as I have to listen to attention-seeking idiots talk about every personal matter in their life in the middle of Osco. “OMG, can you believe he took her to a hotel room? I told him she’d get the wrong idea if he had sex with her. blah blah blah.” > > That’s an actual conversation that a very loud bitch was having on her precious cell phone. > > Fine if you need one. Fine if you can drive without the fucker glued to your ear. And fine if you can keep your conversations quiet enough that the entire pharmacy doesn’t have to hear your business. If you can do all that, I have no problem with your cell phone, but for everyone else. Fuck off! > > I’m tired of being cut off because soccer mom can’t wait to have her conversation and has to practically run me over in the street. It’s that sense of entitlement that people think they should just be able to do whatever the hell they want that bothers me. Cell phones are a courtesy? Bullshit. > > For every “emergency” call there are 100 people chatting about nothing. I can keep my business to myself, it’s too bad so many others have that need to share. Are they so afraid of being alone that they have to be talking while they’re in the grocery or in the car so they don’t get lonely? Frankly, I don’t understand. > > Until I become a neurosurgeon or a someone who must be within reach at all times, I won’t have a cell phone. If you think that’s not courteous, that’s your opinion, but I’m not delusional enough to think I’m so important that people need to get ahold of me at all times. Anyone who needs me usually knows where I am and how to contact me. Everyone else can wait. I couldn’t have said it better myself. Just wanted to add: I can’t wait until talking on a phone and driving at the same time is worth a ticket. The inane conversation that is almost assuredly going on is not worth the danger to other drivers on the road. When people start valuing their conversations over other people’s lives, a line has been crossed that it is not acceptable to cross. It takes .6 seconds for your mind to switch fully from one task to another task. Think about how far you are traveling every .6 seconds while your mind is unprepared because of a conversation that could either have waited for a better time, or didn’t need to happen at all. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-are-constantly-complaining-about-cell-phones/251457/43 "2004-06-21T23:00:32Z")
> [@](#): > > If you are so selfish you cannot understand that it is a good thing to get a hold of friends or let them get ahold of you in case their car breaks down or they are in jail, then go ahead, but don’t come in here all holier than thou with your selfish attitude and expect the world to conform to your patently self centered worldview. Wow, I must be a self centered asshole too, because if you’re fucking car breaks down I think you should call AAA and if you’re in jail you should call Chicos fucking Bail Bonds, because I"m neither! WTF? I should be on call so if one of my friends has car trouble they can call me? I’m not a freaking mechanic or a cab service. If I happen to be home and they reach me with some sort of emergency, I’ll certainly help out, but I’m not on call for anyone. That said, I’m also one of those jackholes who doesn’t usually answer my phone and screens calls. Imagine the selfishness of THAT! I guess my time is valuable to me and I feel I have the right to choose to spend it as I want, not answering calls from everyone who wants to talk RIGHT THEN. I love my cell phone for sending text messages and for having on hand when I travel (I just used it the other day when I had car trouble, but I didn’t go calling around to all of my friends with cell phones hoping they would hop in their car and come get me). I never, EVER use it to chat on (Mine is pre-paid, which will definately keep you out of that habit) and it annoys the tits off me to sit and have to listen to some self absorbed asswipe TALKING AT THIS VOLUME ABOUT SHIT THEY SHOULDN’T BE TALKING ABOUT IN PUBLIC AND TALKING AND TALKING AND TALKING AND TALKING. It drives me to distraction, and not- it’s not the same as a regular conversation. Cell phone conversations are almost always at a higher volume, and people seem to just block out the fact that they’re annoying the fuck out of everyone around them. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-are-constantly-complaining-about-cell-phones/251457/44 "2004-06-22T01:26:03Z")
Cellphones are perfect for quelling the social akwardness of passing strangers in a modestly populated area on a narrow sidewalk while trying to ignore their existance entirely. Whenever I see someone coming up a few yards away I make a mad dash to my contact list (and specifically, to my mother’s name) and chat the butterflies away. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-are-constantly-complaining-about-cell-phones/251457/45 "2004-06-22T01:39:06Z")
Why is it so bad to talk on the phone while driving? If someone else was in the car you’d talk to them, wouldn’t you? If you had three kids fighting in the back seat and asking for cookies you’d be a lot more distracted than with a cell phone. And it’s only a couple of seconds with no hands on the wheel while I shift. And that’s only in heavy traffic, stop and go and slow-down and brake–if I’m going over 70 I stay in fifth, no need to shift! ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-are-constantly-complaining-about-cell-phones/251457/46 "2004-06-22T01:42:55Z")
> [@Cicada2003](#): > > Why is it so bad to talk on the phone while driving? If someone else was in the car you’d talk to them, wouldn’t you? If you had three kids fighting in the back seat and asking for cookies you’d be a lot more distracted than with a cell phone. > > And it’s only a couple of seconds with no hands on the wheel while I shift. And that’s only in heavy traffic, stop and go and slow-down and brake–if I’m going over 70 I stay in fifth, no need to shift! I’ve seen plenty of people not on a cellphone that were carrying on conversations with others in the car, or refereeing fights in the backseat. They’re just as deadly as cellphone drivers. However, I really hope I’m being whooshed by your last comment. Really, really. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-are-constantly-complaining-about-cell-phones/251457/47 "2004-06-22T01:51:07Z")
Well, I’ve had a cellular phone (actually, three, getting smaller each time) for a little over 10 years and no accidents yet. Really–carrying on a conversation with someone else in the car is not “deadly.” Good drivers are willing to drop the conversation if something on the road requires their complete attention, and plenty of people aren’t paying enough attention, even if they aren’t on a cell phone. (I spend 7-1/2 hours a week commuting. See an average of 1.5 wrecks a day, not usually the actual event, but the aftermath.) ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-are-constantly-complaining-about-cell-phones/251457/48 "2004-06-22T01:55:23Z")
> [@Cicada2003](#): > > Well, I’ve had a cellular phone (actually, three, getting smaller each time) for a little over 10 years and no accidents yet. > > Really–carrying on a conversation with someone else in the car is not “deadly.” Good drivers are willing to drop the conversation if something on the road requires their complete attention, and plenty of people aren’t paying enough attention, even if they aren’t on a cell phone. > > (I spend 7-1/2 hours a week commuting. See an average of 1.5 wrecks a day, not usually the actual event, but the aftermath.) It matters little how good a driver you are if you hit an unseen pothole at 65mph and don’t have your hands on the wheel. ---
**Author:** ![Albert\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Albert\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albert_Rose)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-are-constantly-complaining-about-cell-phones/251457/49 "2004-06-22T01:56:52Z")
Regarding the OP: I am one of those people who complains about cell phones whenever I get a chance. Here’s my reasoning: 1. The mobiles which I (or my phone partner) use so often “break up” that it becomes annoying. As my brother points out, maybe I should get on the companies rather than the mobile technology itself. My wife’s new cell phone works 95% of the time (or more)! 2. They do tend to get on the way of conversation – say, when I’m talking to someone face-to-face and his/her phone rings – but that’s more of a personal issue than a mobile issue. 3. The damn things ring at the worst times!! This is due to the owners, not the cell phones. In other words, yeah, you have a point. I will henceforth complain about those rascally humans instead of their cell phones. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-are-constantly-complaining-about-cell-phones/251457/50 "2004-06-22T02:15:32Z")
I don’t mind at all when someone near me in the supermarket answers their cellphone and starts a long-winded conversation. It’s wonderful when others take the trouble to share their incredibly boring lives with us. ---
**Author:** ![Thaumaturge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@Thaumaturge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thaumaturge)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-are-constantly-complaining-about-cell-phones/251457/51 "2004-06-22T02:24:58Z")
**Cicada2003** is either wooshing us or an accident waiting to happen. [assumes no woosh] In a "couple of seconds with no hands on the wheel ", a whole lot of shit can happen, and guess what, no one anticipates the unexpected, you are either prepared or not. You are definately not prepared. Sheer luck is the only thing that is keeping you from an accident. I only hope that you don’t take anyone else with you. [/assumes no woosh] Even if he’s just being sarcastic, I wonder how many people out there really think like that? Judging by how many morons I must try to avoid on the road each day, it’s got to be alot. You can spot them easily, swerving around in their lane ( sometimes into other lanes), randomly varying their speeds with no regard to anyone else around them, sometimes even stopping at green lights, or false starting at red ones. Most of the time when you see this spastic behavior, when you finally get even with the dork, you see a cell-phone pasted to their head. Maybe the microwaves cook their brains? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-are-constantly-complaining-about-cell-phones/251457/52 "2004-06-22T02:46:25Z")
> [@Chastain86](#): > > So you decide to apologize to save face, because the majority of the people in here can see and smell your bullshit being cooked? No, I made a mistake and admited it. > [@](#): > > In the future, think about the things you’re inferring about people without knowing all the facts. In the meantime, get bent. Takes a real man to come in after a person sees and admits a mistake and then keep blathering on. At least _I_ am capable of admiting such a thing. ---
**Author:** ![Klaatu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Klaatu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Klaatu)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-are-constantly-complaining-about-cell-phones/251457/53 "2004-06-22T03:01:46Z")
I don’t give a flying fuck about cellphones in theaters, board meetings, funeral homes, WTF ever, but you DANGEROUS fucks on the road who: Drive 20 under the limit in the fast lane… yakking Cut me off through 3 freeway lanes because you should have got over earlier…yakking Make me sit thru 3 left turn lights because of your yakking bullshit… Slide into my lane at 65 mph for not PAYING FUCKING ATTENTION…yakking and many more… You people piss me waaay the fuck off! ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee7513/32.png) [@Mona\_Lott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lott)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-are-constantly-complaining-about-cell-phones/251457/54 "2004-06-22T03:26:49Z")
My complaint about cell phone users is as follows: I work in a supermarket. Some times I am operating a cash register. If you are talking on your phone while I am trying to find out how you want to pay for your purchases, you need to stop talking. You need to stop talking when I’m trying to give your change to you. I am dealing with your money. The least you can do is stop talking long enough to process your transaction in a timely manner. I have long since become accustomed to cell phone use in the grocery store. Most of the conversations that we accidently overhear are non-essential. Please use common sense when using your cell phone. Thank you. Mona ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-are-constantly-complaining-about-cell-phones/251457/55 "2004-06-22T04:09:49Z")
Idea. The people who want cell phones: get them. The people who don’t want cell phones: don’t get them. How 'bout that. I don’t see anyone arguing that A) _everyone must_ have a cell phone, or B) _nobody should be allowed_ to have a cell phone. Even if anyone is, any rational person can see that both of those arguments are absurd, and extremist examples of wishing one’s personal preference forced upon everyone else. Unless I misread something, the OP was intending to Pit argument (B) above. I have not seen that argument presented here. So, **Chastain** and **Epimetheus** ’ little spat aside, what the hell are we arguing about? ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-are-constantly-complaining-about-cell-phones/251457/56 "2004-06-22T05:47:16Z")
I only have a cell phone because my employer pays for it. I travel between 3 offices so it’s just a whole lot easier to give me a cell and treat that as my office number. When I’m off the clock I usually turn it off, or screen calls. I’ve got a real basic landline and a dial up internet connection, so in the rare event that I’m home my landline is usually busy anyway, so I treat my cell as my home phone as well. My landline actually rang the other morning and I was momentarily confused, I had forgotten what it sounded like! I agree that it’s not cell phones but their users that are annoying. People really do naturally talk louder on cell phones. It’s annoying. That’s the main reason why the average cell phone user gabbing about nothing in the grocery store is so freaking irritating. They’re not just gabbing, they’re _shouting_, and they either don’t realize it or don’t care. There’s also that weird situation when someone is looking at you and speaking so you assume they’re talking to _you_. So you reply and they look at you like you’re an alien before you see that teensy bit of plastic they’re holding up to their ears (or worse if they’re speaking on a hands-free). That’s happened to me twice in the past week. I’ve got two words for **Cicada2003** : hands free. You really shouldn’t be driving and talking on a cell phone without a hands free attachment. It’s actually illegal in some areas. You can’t really make the comparison between gabbing on your phone and talking with someone in the car unless you’re using one because it’s not really the same. Especially if you drive a stick. That’s just silly. Cough up the $10-$20 and make the roads a helluva lot safer for everyone. Please. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-are-constantly-complaining-about-cell-phones/251457/57 "2004-06-22T08:14:40Z")
> [@Thaumaturge](#): > > I can’t wait until talking on a phone and driving at the same time is worth a ticket. It is in NY and NJ. At least the parts where I go. **Cicada** –talking on a phone is quite different than talking to someone in a car. The passenger will naturally pause in conversation when the driver is doing something that requires extra attention, like merging onto a highway or making a left turn across a busy intersection. The person on the phone won’t. And having only one hand to drive with is a major detriment. Yeah, we’d all drop our phones in case of a big fat emergency, but people just don’t do it in those non-emergency cases where we just ought to have two hands on the wheel. You can go on and on about what a wonderful safe driver you are, but that doesn’t change the correlation between cell phone use and collisions. And you can bet that cell phone use during accidents is vastly underreported. ---
**Author:** ![YoudNeverGuess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a587f6/32.png) [@YoudNeverGuess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YoudNeverGuess)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-are-constantly-complaining-about-cell-phones/251457/58 "2004-06-22T14:15:27Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Anyone else completely mystified by the misdirected anger in this thread? **The OP is clearly ranting against people who don’t want a cell phone and bitch about them constantly**. He then goes on to present normal arguments from these people, and presents a logical solution for those arguments. > > And then everyone else completely misread or misunderstood the purpose of that rant, and promptly shat their pants. Haha - thanks **Munch**. You got it right (except for the ‘He’ bit 🙂 ). That’s exactly what annoys me. I actually agree with many of the complaints posted here (particularly about those who drive while on their phones without a hands free kit, those who take calls at cash registers :mad: , and those who take calls in theatres). What I don’t agree with is people who adopt a ‘holier than thou’ attitude about mobile phone usage because of the behaviour of these people who are just plain bad-mannered. They tar all mobile phone users with the same brush and it’s annoying. And also, I _know_ some people do talk extra loudly on their phones and it might be annoying that you can hear their ‘inane’ conversation but the level of vitriol expressed by some people here seems like overreaction. Why does it bother you SO much that people are talking about trivial things on their phones? That’s all I’m saying. It doesn’t bother me, in fact in can liven up an otherwise boring bus journey like any small-scale voyeurism in life. Anyway this post is getting too long. Suffice to say that I understand why some people don’t want a mobile phone (I think their useful but that’s just my personal preference) but I am just getting really tired of people moaning about mobile phone users all the time as if they are so much better people just because they don’t have one and will never get one etc. etc. Some people are just way too passionate in their mobile-phone hatred for my liking :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![YoudNeverGuess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a587f6/32.png) [@YoudNeverGuess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YoudNeverGuess)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-are-constantly-complaining-about-cell-phones/251457/59 "2004-06-22T14:18:51Z")
_they’re_ useful :smack: :smack: :smack: That’s another one of my pet hates :o ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-are-constantly-complaining-about-cell-phones/251457/60 "2004-06-22T14:32:42Z")
> [@YoudNeverGuess](#): > > Why does it bother you SO much that people are talking about trivial things on their phones? That’s all I’m saying. It doesn’t bother me, in fact in can liven up an otherwise boring bus journey like any small-scale voyeurism in life. I think you mean eavesdropper-ism. I prefer eavesdropping to be voluntary. Maybe I am reading, dozing or just thinking about something. It’s rude to yap, yap, yap loudly into a cellphone (and most do speak significantly more loudly than in ordinary conversation) and inflict your dull life on everyone around you. It’s not the end of the world, just another example grating rudeness by self-centered twits. Everyone who doesn’t do this _is_ superior in this respect to everyone who does. If you’re Mother Teresa in other aspects of your life maybe it balances out. But don’t expect other movie patrons who don’t know about your good works to give you slack. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-are-constantly-complaining-about-cell-phones/251457.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-are-constantly-complaining-about-cell-phones/251457.md?page=4)