Or you could just turn it off.

[cosmosdan]

@spooje

In my job, I am required to be on call one week out of five.

I agree with a lot that has been said about this rude behavior. And I agree that it is really rude. When I am oncall, I know there is a chance I am going to be mortified. But I take certain steps to minimize.

1. I turn the volume to it’s lowest setting. Sadly, the cell I was issued does not have a vibrate mode. Or if it does, I don’t know to engage it and it’s not in the manual.

2. I sit as close to exit door as possible. As soon as it goes off, I am out the door.

3. I sometimes choose not to attend certain events when on call.

And there you have it. If you, who really need to answer the calls, just as doctors, firemen or others might have to, can take measures to intrude as little as possible out of consideration for other people, then certainly others can. I think what most people are complaining about is the strange compulsion to answer phones when it absolutely is not necessary to answer.
I work in a music store and it’s handy when people want to ask advice from a trusted friend about something they are looking at or need to call someone to make sure they are getting the right thing. Of course we could always do that on the land lines before. I even got a call today from a friend shopping at a music store 14oo miles away. Fortunately I was not busy and could take the call.

What bothers me are people who are shopping and take frivolous calls in the middle of a transaction. Be polite and considerate of the people around you. Say excuse me, and make it brief like, “I’m in the store making a purchase and I’ll call you when I get outside” and then say, “I’m sorry about that” acknowledging that interrupting your conversation with me to take the call was a slight breach of edicate just as anyone walking up and interrupting us would be. It’s just good manners and basic consideration. If customers take a call and start to ramble on without any “Excuse me” I am apt to just walk away from them. When their call is done I may or may not be available to help them. Other customers shouldn’t have to wait for their phone call to finish before they are waited on.

I think it’s a bit odd that people think it’s rude not to answer the call from ether end, receiving or calling. It isn’t at all. It’s an electronic form of communication and it’s use depends on the availability, need, and whim of the owner.

My friends know I may or may not answer and they can leave a voice mail.

[cosmosdan]

@MaxTheVool

Remember, even if people aren’t calling you with emergencies, people are often calling with useful questions whose answers can be quickly communicated and which, if not essential, make their life (and potentially your life) smoother. What is politeness and manners if not attempting to make everyone’s life easier and more pleasant?

I agree with this. I think it is a matter of manners and consideration and sometimes the situation requires balancing consideration for several people. It I am talking to a customer I won’t answer my phone. If I’m not and not in the middle of an important task I will but I make it a point to keep it brief. If I’m expecting a call from my kids or anyone about when and where an event is happening, I tell my companion[s] so they understand if I walk away when the phone rings.

I don’t mind if customers take brief calls if they are polite about it. I do object when the phone seems to take priority over the real people in your presence and they show a real lack of consideration for me as well as the other customers who might be waiting to be helped.

For me when people in line in front of me chatter on the phone and take twice as long to complete their transaction for the sake of mindless chatter I think that’s rude.

The other thing that seems to happen is that often the people on the other end of the call are obviously not busy so once someone says hello they keep talking even after they are told, “well I’m at the store right now making a purchase” then it’s “Okay” Okay" I’ll call you back later" Okay…and so on. It’s goofy.

[cosmosdan]

@D_Odds

Twice?

I could maybe understand commenting to a teenager on some of their first interviews that a ringing phone is a lesson to never have a cell phone on during an interview. It should not be seen nor heard - if it lights up on silent and isn’t stashed away somewhere unnoticable it is still a distraction. But that is only if they did not answer it. The very second anyone answered the phone, the interview would end.

Good policy.

We have people come in and ask if we’re hiring. I offer them an application and if they ask to borrow a pen I’m tempted to pull the application away from them. If you’re really looking for a job then bring a dam pen. If you can’t think that far ahead then I’m not sure I even want to bother with the app.

Answering a cell phone during an interview??? See ya, hope you learned something, buh bye!!

[Derleth]

@D_Odds

I’d love if theaters had these. I’ve yet to go to a theater* that didn’t still have old-fashioned public phones. And you don’t need a coin to call emergency. I have seen restaurants without public phones, but I haven’t seen any without a landline which could be used in an emergency.

You simply do not get it. I’m talking about the people who get called in case of emergency, not the people who make the calls to notify others.

@DrDeth

Derleth- ER’s saved millions of people before the first pager was even invented.

So the people who save your life aren’t allowed to have lives of their own, just so you can enjoy a movie or a meal without the occasional cell-phone going off. My god you are a self-important little moron.

[Annie-Xmas]

@D_Odds

Twice?

I could maybe understand commenting to a teenager on some of their first interviews that a ringing phone is a lesson to never have a cell phone on during an interview. It should not be seen nor heard - if it lights up on silent and isn’t stashed away somewhere unnoticable it is still a distraction. But that is only if they did not answer it. The very second anyone answered the phone, the interview would end.

I don’t tell them initially because I want to see if they have enough common sense to turn the damn thing off for something important like a job interview. If they don’t, I tell them not to have it on during something important like a job interview. If it goes off again, that’s it. I don’t want them.

[Moirai]

@Swampwolf

As the phone rang and rang, Mr. C. was getting more uncomfortable until he finally asked “Are you going to answer that?”
“Nope,” came the response. “I put that thing in my house for my convenience. Not anyone else’s.”

That is EXACTLY what I tell people about my cell phone! When my brother is in Iraq, my phone is never more than three feet from me- but that doesn’t mean that the ring is audible. Nor do I feel the urge to answer it every single time it rings, especially if the timing is bad. I have caller ID and I use it to screen my calls. No one is offended by this- they know I have small children and I can’t always dive for the phone. Leave a message and I’ll call you back as fast as I can.

Simple.

[enipla]

My Wife has a friend that is a bit confused about communication.

Case in point – And we are talking about a 50 year old woman.

My Wife calls her land line to chat about some unimportant stuff that can be dealt with in the next few days.

The land line is busy.

Fine, no big deal. My Wife will just call later.

When friend discovers that my Wife tried to call, and that the phone was busy, friend says “If my land line is busy call my cell phone” I would have picked up.

It’s new form of call waiting for some folks.

Drives me nuts too. Our cell phones are off unless we need them or something is going on.

[elbows]

With apologies, my opinion of persons holding phone conversations in earshot of strangers is that they are attention whores with an inflated sense of self importance.

It’s not complicated to check for messages on your phone and return your calls when you are alone. I don’t care who you are, or where you are, or why. If you’re talking on your phone where others can hear you, you’re attention whoring. Period.

And no, I don’t believe you’re that busy. No one does, you’re not fooling us. We listen to your lame rationalizations and know it’s pointless to discuss this with someone with such an exaggerated sense of self importance.

There, I said it.

I’m sorry if it offends you, but tough darts.

It offends me that I have to listen to your trivial chattering everywhere in my world. Get over yourself and grow up already.

[Johnny_L.A]

@elbows

With apologies, my opinion of persons holding phone conversations in earshot of strangers is that they are attention whores with an inflated sense of self importance.

An old friend ‘BeelzeBob’ and I were at a bar. He’s on his mobile talking loudly about a party he (allegedly) attended at the Playboy Mansion. He normally spoke loudly, and doubly so if there were people he could ‘impress’. As he spoke I could see him scanning the bar to see if anyone was listening. :rolleyes:

[nonacetone]

People don’t “turn off” their landlines, but still get pissed if somebody calls them at midnight.

Some people don’t, but I refuse to buy a cordless phone unless you are able to turn OFF the damn ringer!

Actually, the only time my home phones and/or cell phone are on, is when I feel like turning them on, and the cell is NOT turned on, except at night.
Anyone wanting to talk to me can leave a message.
I figure it this way…if someone has died, well, there’s not much I can do about it.
If someone is having to go to the ER, there’s not much I can do about that, either. Let the professionals handle the situation.
I’ll get there when I can.

I don’t see any reason to have the damn phones on 24/7/365!

[Spice_Weasel]

This is definitely a pet peeve of mine. For situations like weddings, funerals, job interviews, movies, etc, I think it’s rude to even bring a cell phone into the building, whether it’s turned off or not. It won’t kill you to leave it in the car.

Apparently it’s acceptable for us to have our cellphones during work time at my new job, but I don’t plan to have it on. I don’t see the point of leaving my cell phone on, if I can’t talk to the person anyways (and no, there is no excuse for using your cell phone while you are being paid to do work.) I can check my my messages during break, walk downstairs and exit the building, find a little corner that’s out of the way, and return the calls there, where nobody can hear me.

I have called my husband from a grocery store before–walked out of the store, into the parking lot, entered the car, and called him to ask his opinion on a joint purchase he put me in charge of making on our behalf. Every great once in a while I will actually talk in the supermarket, but with a low, even voice, and only to communicate the bare necessities (’‘What kind of shampoo did you need again? Ok, I love you, talk to you later, bye.’’)

Nobody needs a cell phone. This growing idea that they are some kind of inalienable human right drives me right up the wall. People who use them with reckless abandon tend to have such an exaggerated sense of entitlement and self-importance. My grandmother, god bless her, is one of the most annoying people in the world with cell phones. She will open them up and start talking at the checkout lane or in a restaurant, very loudly, usually about really personal things. When I’m with her, it makes me want to crawl in a hole and die.

And when she uses it while driving, I begin to wonder if I WILL die. I think talking on a cell phone in the car is about the moral equivalent of driving drunk. They’ve done studies, some which indicate that talking on a cell phone impairs your driving WORSE than driving drunk. I am not proud to admit it, I have used my cell phone while driving. It’s not a good idea even for brief periods of time.

ETA: And don’t even get me started on my MIL, **a therapist who answers her cell phone while she is counseling people. ** And if you call her, she will always answer, and sometimes say in a very irritated voice, ‘‘I’m in a session right now!’’ – as if me calling her somehow reflects on MY rudeness, not hers. We don’t call her during work hours anymore.

[Sapo]

@T_SQUARE

If by ‘network’ you mean the mobile phone network, I’d be pissed too. There is no reason for the phone company to ever be contacting me on the phone, unless I am behind on my payments.

If the messages were promoting some fancy new ringtone or other such nonsense, I’d be inclined to slap someone silly as opposed to complaining.

It is good to see that out of 90 responses, at least one is by someone who bothered to read the OP and didn’t just jump into cellhating frenzy mode. I am fairly strongly anti cell phone (I did start a thread once asking about cell jammers). My phone is off more often than not, and most of the times it rings, I silence it without even looking to see who is calling.

That said, I understand the OP to be about people complaining about getting spam from their own cell phone carrier. That sucks big time. Even in my most world welcoming moments, I don’t care to hear a motherflogging recording of some ridiculous sales pitch. I don’t care to know about some optional frill on my phone that never has decent reception. And even sadder, I don’t want some retard trying to sell me an option that I already have.

I don’t owe you money, don’t call me. Period. I have my cell phone on, it is to receive calls of people who I want to receive calls from, not for spam.

[Larry_Borgia]

Don’t most doctors and other “On-call” people put their cellphones on vibrate when they go to the movies, restaurants, etc?

[Moirai]

All the ones I know do that. But then again, I don’t have any rude assholes in my social circle.

[Typo_Negative]

@olivesmarch4th

This is definitely a pet peeve of mine. For situations like weddings, funerals, job interviews, movies, etc, I think it’s rude to even bring a cell phone into the building, whether it’s turned off or not. It won’t kill you to leave it in the car.

Oh I don’t know about that. I have a work cell and a personal cell. I always have one with me. My personal phone is primarily for emergencies.

I mean, you never know when you’re gonna have to call 9-1-1. Sometimes payphones are not easy to locate and sometimes are out of order. Same goes for other phones in any building. And it make take a few minutes to get to your car. In a true emergency, every second counts.

So having a cell phone in your pocket, but powered off, makes good sense.

*originally posted by * elbows

With apologies, my opinion of persons holding phone conversations in earshot of strangers is that they are attention whores with an inflated sense of self importance.

I agree. It takes almost no effort to take a few steps away from others when on a call. At the very least, you should lower your voice. I hate it when people have private coversations where I can hear them. I feel like I’m eavesdropping and didn’t have a choice in the matter. And you wanna know the freaky part??? When someone is having a personal coversation right next me me *I feel like I have to be quiet so as not to interupt the rude bastard!!! *

[Moirai]

@spooje

Sometimes payphones are not easy to locate and sometimes are out of order.

I can’t remember the last time I saw a pay phone. Seriously, lots of them have been removed.

[Clothahump]

Oh, this is one of my pet peeves.

Turn the frickin’ phone off when they put the message up on the screen in the movie that says Please Silence Your Cell Phones And Pagers. No, don’t put it on vibrate, turn it off. If you put it on vibrate, you’ll feel obligated to haul it out and look to see who is calling you and that bright screen lights up the whole room. Especially all those hotstud blinking lights you had installed on your phone.

That’s why, the third time it happened in the movie last night, I didn’t just say politely, “Please turn your cell phone off”, I yelled “TURN YOUR GODDAM CELL PHONE OFF, ASSHOLE!!”

[DrDeth]

[QUOTE=DerlethSo the people who save your life aren’t allowed to have lives of their own, just so you can enjoy a movie or a meal without the occasional cell-phone going off. My god you are a self-important little moron.[/QUOTE]

Not while they are actually working there at the hospital. You took my quote out of context: "
*Really? You mean all those Doctors, NP’s, and Nurses I saw actually at the Hospital were products of my imagination? They all go out and wait to be paged/called? The complaints about 60hour+ weeks at the hospital were made up?

Derleth- ER’s saved millions of people before the first pager was even invented. It is true that in the case of some major trauma incident they do call in as many as they can reach. But still, some can’t be reached. …

And what happens if the Doctor, etc are across town during rush hour? Does everyone just die then? "
*

As far as I am concerned, once they are off the clock, they are off the clock (Huge disasters aside, but I am “on call” for those myself). They have even more rights to a life of their own, since I expect 99% of all emergencies to be handled by staff already there at the hosital (yes, some are asleep in the “on call” room, but they are still there. They will have to be called of course. ) You seem to think that just because they have an imporant job, they must be “on call” 24/7. :dubious: I hope they can enjoy their days off without a pager or a cellphone.

[SmokinMom]

I see a lot of complaining on this thread. Don’t get me wrong, everyone needs to blow off steam now and again. But it’s always been my philosophy that if you’re not part of the solution, then you’re part of the problem and I think we all agree that these ringing cell phones are indeed **the problem ** , especially if they ring to the tune of the Lone Ranger. But I digress, I think there is a golden marketing opportunity here:

Why don’t we invent a cell phone holder of sorts that could be attached to one’s genitals? Then people, men in particular, would be **MOTIVATED ** to use the vibrate feature to enjoy the fringe benefits of incoming calls. And that fear someone had up thread that the vibrate option might go unnoticed: Dude, if you don’t feel THIS one, then missing phone calls is the least of your problems.

I think this is a brilliant idea and could make the world a much better place. If anyone is interested in partering with me in this new business venture, please advise. I am certain we’ll be retiring in style off the profits.

I’m also looking for a catchy name. Any ideas?

[Wallenstein]

One of the management team I used to work with was contractually obliged to answer his work phone any time it went.

He was the Civil Emergency Coordinator for a large local authority, and he was first point-of-call if anything went wrong. When he was on the clock it didn’t matter what else he was doing - if that phone went he’d stop and answer it.

He had one of the “gold” phones issued to key personell in the UK - in emergencies the Powers That Be can turn off the mobile network, except for certain phones, to prevent overload.