I use the downtown branch of the city library. It’s large, and it’s always full of people of all ages, classes, races, and interests. It’s a very welcoming place. Nobody gets shushed unless they’re being loud in a way that would be disruptive at, say, a restaurant or a store. Teenagers hang out there after school reading magazines and comic books or looking for music, homeless guys play chess at tables, middle-aged people like me are chatting with strangers about what’s good on the new releases shelf. I like it that way. I was at the library the other day, and near the religion section, I passed a table of teenaged boys who were freestyle rapping in quiet, conversational tones, and they were pretty good- I paused to eavesdrop for a few minutes.
It’s okay with me that the silent library is no longer the norm for public libraries. I still support it for school and university libraries, though, where it’s often needed as a peaceful study space.
It’s fine if libraries have sections where people can converse in normal tones, and sections for reading which should be quiet. People who have phone conversations in the reading sections need to be told.
I don’t understand why people need to walk around with a phone stuck to the side their head but it doesn’t matter until it interferes with others. Then they should be told that owning a cell phone doesn’t give you permission to be inconsiderate of everyone around you.
I know this is a tangent, but I watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics last night, and was floored to see at least a handful of the American athletes marching in WITH CELL PHONES PRESSED TO THEIR EARS and yakking away.
Dear god. If marching into the Olympic games isn’t a big enough thrill to fully occupy your mind, what the hell ever will be???
Uh, you do realise they were probably talking about *being in * the huge parade and in the stadium? Many of the athletes also had cameras and phone cameras, and were taking pictures - phoning someone about what it’s like to be there seems pretty reasonable to me.
Oh, I’m sure that’s what they’re talking about. But, still – if you were really caught up in a moment, you should be experiencing that moment, not acting like some play by play announcer for someone else.
And I think their behavior is rude to those around him, who, mind you, are not random strangers at a bus stop. Those are your TEAMMATES. Aren’t you friendly with at least some of them? If you spot something fascinating you want to comment on, why are you pointing it out to the person beside you so they can see/enjoy it too? The people in the stands are cheering for YOU. Can’t you at least give them your full attention?
It just really strikes me as so self-centered. Me, me, me.
What’s next? The bride whips out her phone at the altar and starts burbling? “You guessed it, Father Mike couldn’t resist making that same old joke. And you should see the horror of a dress Bill’s mother has on! What is she thinking? The flower girl looks really cute, though. Oh, he’s putting the ring on my finger right now! Ooops, just a minute, Mary, I gotta Bill and then I’ll be right back.”
Oh, I’m sure that’s what they’re talking about. But, still – if you were really caught up in a moment, you should be experiencing that moment, not acting like some play by play announcer for someone else.
And I think their behavior is rude to those around him, who, mind you, are not random strangers at a bus stop. Those are your TEAMMATES. Aren’t you friendly with at least some of them? If you spot something fascinating you want to comment on, why are you pointing it out to the person beside you so they can see/enjoy it too? The people in the stands are cheering for YOU. Can’t you at least give them your full attention?
It just really strikes me as so self-centered. Me, me, me.
What’s next? The bride whips out her phone at the altar and starts burbling? “You guessed it, Father Mike couldn’t resist making that same old joke. And you should see the horror of a dress Bill’s mother has on! What is she thinking? The flower girl looks really cute, though. Oh, he’s putting the ring on my finger right now! Ooops, just a minute, Mary, I gotta kiss Bill and then I’ll be right back.”
As a high school teacher, I have to deal with the cell phone problem frequently (we’re supposed to take the phone away and take it to the kid’s dean. I take it away but deal out my own punishment). At least I USED to have do deal with it frequently. My policy is this: if a kid’s phone rings, I get to answer it. If mine rings (I keep it on vibrate or off), someone in the class gets to answer it.
It goes like this:
<ring>
Me: “Hand it over.”
Kid: “Nooooo!!!”
The rest of the class: “Answer it!!!”
Me: “Hello, [kid’s name]'s phone; this is her physics teacher. Can I help you?”
Most of the time it is another kid, but the best is when it is a parent (who should know better). I’ve embarrassed a few kids (and parents) before, and that’s all it takes for the other kids to keep their phones off.
When I was a kid, my dad was a physician who was generally either working or “on call.”
Being “on call” meant that he absolutely couldn’t leave the phone. When he was on call, he couldn’t even go outside to play catch with me.
Sometimes, he was the backup “on call” physician. In this case, he could be out of phone contact for short periods of time. If we went out to eat, he had to call the hospital and give them the phone number of where he was. He then had to tell the manager that he was a doctor and to let him know if anyone called.
Years later, he was one of the first people to get a pager. He was also one of the first people to get a portable “car phone.” It consisted of a handset with a 10 pound battery pack and antenna.
In any event, when my father gets a call in a public place, he leaves. Due to privacy issues (and common courtesy), he has the conversation in the lobby or outside. Only in a life or death situation would he give orders inside a restaurant, and that would be as he was walking out.
I don’t think doctors are the problem with cell phones.
He’d deserve a glare anyway. The right thing to do would be to ask for any patient care-related calls to be directed to your pager, have it on vibrate, and then step outside or at least into the lobby to answer it.
Docs can be as oblivious about public decorum as anyone else. There was a good story recently on a blog run by an academic surgeon, which described how he was in a stall in a men’s room when a cell phone rang and a detailed conversation was started by the occupant of the next stall, whom he realized was an oncologist of his acquaintance. The man got into a long involved discussion about the treatment of one of his patients, which showed no sign of coming to a resolution. Meanwhile, our surgeon wanted to get up and out of there, but realized the loud flush would be clearly audible to whoever was at the other end of the call. Major etiquette dilemma - flush or just leave?
You have to wonder what people are thinking when they make business calls from urinals and other such spots (“Oh, nothing special right now.”). You want to make a helpful comment like “He’s taking a dump! And ooooh, it’s a nasty one.”
To combat this, I put in my syllabi for every class I teach the following:
"CELLULAR PHONES AND OTHER NOISE MAKERS
From ______ to ______ on ______ nights, you are scheduled to be in class with me. Therefore, if I hear a cell phone ringing during class time, I will assume the person calling is trying to reach me and answer the phone. Please do not let the class be interrupted by letting anything other than my voice be the most annoying noise in the classroom. Turn them to vibrate or off."
After the first time I actually carry on a conversation with the person making the call, I usually don’t have a problem the rest of the term.
