My SO took 42 pictures of his butt with the outside button that you can’t turn off on his phone. Each had to be deleted individually. Nice.
Edited to add: To the OP: Nice rant. Good rhythm and you can Curse to it! 
Wow, I guess the manual is completely wrong. I’m glad I know now not to recommend that phone to anyone! Verizon tries really hard to provide good customer service, so I’m glad they didn’t give you any trouble!
One of the outside buttons on my phone has a picture of a camera on it, but it doesn’t ever activate the camera… it activates the voice recorder.
The result, if left in my front pocket all day, is a dozen random 3 minute recordings of conversations I’ve had, background noise, shits I’ve taken, and the mysterious “What the hell is that??” sounds.
It’s fascinating, really. I should start a podcast.
Many courthouses ban camera phones, along with anything that can take pictures or make audio recordings.
Shopping for a cell phone that does not have a camera is frustrating. The selection is very limited.