# That will teach you to turn your F\*\*\*ing cell phone off during a show! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 22, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-will-teach-you-to-turn-your-f-ing-cell-phone-off-during-a-show/332318 "2005-11-22T20:47:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-will-teach-you-to-turn-your-f-ing-cell-phone-off-during-a-show/332318/41 "2005-11-23T11:21:53Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I don’t know why someone hasn’t invented a device that would cancel out all cell phone signals in theaters It’s simple, they could just encase the entire room inside a [Faraday Cage.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage) Lawsuits won’t be a problem since there’s no law _requiring_ any public building to have cell phone service – heck, there’s dead zones even in the most densely populated cities. And if they’re really worried, they could post a warning sign outside the theater, and if you don’t like it, you don’t have to buy a ticket. Of course, it would be bloody expensive, especially the cost of embedding the wire mesh inside all the walls & floors. Simply “papering” the walls would be cheaper, but look like crap and probably wreak hell with the acoustics. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-will-teach-you-to-turn-your-f-ing-cell-phone-off-during-a-show/332318/42 "2005-11-23T11:55:15Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Unless this problem is FAR worse in Britain, this is really sycophantic. It’s hard to believe, anyway. Here in the US, it’s been years since I heard a cell phone ring during a play. I know it happens, but… I think it may indeed be worse here in Britain; pretty much _everyone_ has a mobile phone - in fact I know several people who have (and carry) more than one - I expect there are more mobile phones in everyday use than there are adult humans in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-will-teach-you-to-turn-your-f-ing-cell-phone-off-during-a-show/332318/43 "2005-11-23T12:21:48Z")
I just returned from spending 3 weeks in Scotland and England and I just wanted to back-up **Mangetout’s** comments. From this Canadian’s viewpoint, there were a few things that really leapt out at me when I was over there: 1. I saw very few fat people and 2. EVERYBODY had a cell phone (and often, it seemed, they were all using them at once). I found this both amusing and annoying at various times. Mobiles don’t seem to have reached anywhere near the same penetration in the North American market as they have in the UK. I’ll leave out speculation as to why, although I suspect having BT as a competitor hasn’t harmed the mobile companies. ---
**Author:** ![SuperNelson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@SuperNelson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNelson)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-will-teach-you-to-turn-your-f-ing-cell-phone-off-during-a-show/332318/44 "2005-11-23T13:22:46Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > It’s simple, they could just encase the entire room inside a [Faraday Cage.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage) Lawsuits won’t be a problem since there’s no law _requiring_ any public building to have cell phone service – heck, there’s dead zones even in the most densely populated cities. And if they’re really worried, they could post a warning sign outside the theater, and if you don’t like it, you don’t have to buy a ticket. > > Of course, it would be bloody expensive, especially the cost of embedding the wire mesh inside all the walls & floors. Simply “papering” the walls would be cheaper, but look like crap and probably wreak hell with the acoustics. Doesn’t have to be a Faraday cage. As I understand it, a Faraday cage is designed to prevent all electromagnetic fields from entering an area. This is significant overkill. All you really need to do is impair certain frequency ranges (I think around 900 Mhz, 1.8 - 2.0 Ghz, and maybe one other). Lots of buildings can do this (for example, the oldest portion of the one I work in). I’ve seen articles about commercially available wallpaper that does this, as well. If you’re worried about the accoustics, the wallpaper doesn’t have to be applied to the inside of the theater walls; it could be applied on the other side (like the surrounding halls, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-will-teach-you-to-turn-your-f-ing-cell-phone-off-during-a-show/332318/45 "2005-11-23T13:58:20Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > You should have heard the entire crowd gasp when a cell phone rang at the Chicago **Dead Can Dance** show. It made a single ring, was silenced, and you never heard it (or any other phone) again. Hey, you were there, too? What was really awful about it was the timing - right in the midst of one of Lisa’s “paint music on the canvas of silence” beauties. Still, it was really funny to be in the balcony and see the ocean of little blue lights that came on below us after that, as everyone immediately checked their phones and turned them off. What was almost more annoying than the phone was the gasp and thousands of whispers of “shut up! Oh no! Be quiet! Ohmigod!” just after. And the idiot bartender breaking beer bottles in the next room, but that’s another rant. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-will-teach-you-to-turn-your-f-ing-cell-phone-off-during-a-show/332318/46 "2005-11-23T14:18:24Z")
> [@Tracy Lord](#): > > Well, there are people like doctors who _do_ have to be on-call 24/7. Oh, please. People went out to the theater (or where ever) just fine for years without cell phones. I remember babysitting (in the late 70s and early 80s) and the parents would leave the phone number of the theater and their seat numbers. I always knew which restaurant they were going to, or which friend’s house they were at. If it was a movie, I always knew which theater and movie they were in. If there’d been a true emergancy, the usher would have been able to find them. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-will-teach-you-to-turn-your-f-ing-cell-phone-off-during-a-show/332318/47 "2005-11-23T14:24:38Z")
[MAJOR HIJACK] These tales of inconsiderate lapses in theatergoing etiquette brings to mind a story told by a college buddy’s mother. She was attending a symphony performance, most likely in Indianapolis, and the piece was a Romantic Period work with a Grand Pause near the end. For those unfamiliar with the term, that’s the sort of thing where the music gets loud, Louder, LOUDEST…SILENCE…BIG re-entry to the conclusion of the piece. But at this particular perfomance, what she heard was: loud Louder LOUDEST… “…but of course I like mine fried…” …BIG re-entry, etc. People didn’t always need cell phones to be rude at a public performance [/MH] ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-will-teach-you-to-turn-your-f-ing-cell-phone-off-during-a-show/332318/48 "2005-11-23T14:38:00Z")
My cellphone went off during the latest harry potter. It took me a minute to locate it ( hearing loss makes locating things like this a real chore. I was listening to my purse then my jacket pocket. It was on the floor.) and I shut it off in mid ring and profusely apologized aloud to the packed house. I forgot to shut it off and we arrived late to the show and came in just as the movie was starting, so I missed the onscreen reminder. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-will-teach-you-to-turn-your-f-ing-cell-phone-off-during-a-show/332318/49 "2005-11-23T14:41:45Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > My cellphone went off during the latest harry potter. > > It took me a minute to locate it ( hearing loss makes locating things like this a real chore. I was listening to my purse then my jacket pocket. It was on the floor.) and I shut it off in mid ring and profusely apologized aloud to the packed house. > > I forgot to shut it off and we arrived late to the show and came in just as the movie was starting, so I missed the onscreen reminder. Off to Azkaban with you. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-will-teach-you-to-turn-your-f-ing-cell-phone-off-during-a-show/332318/50 "2005-11-23T14:44:03Z")
None of you, apparently, have ever lived in Orlando’s western suburbs. There, a disproportionately large amount of the population are somehow involved in the construction industry, and they ALL have Nextel telephones that seem surgically grafted to their hips. They’re so prevalent, some call them “West Orange County passports.” Imagine going to the movies at West Oaks Mall, and every ten minutes or so hearing “B-B-B-B-B-EEEEEP GRAW GARR BARR GRAW GODDAMN DRYWALL GARR BAAAA GRAW BAAR BAAR FUCKIN’ SUBCONTRACTORS GRAAA BAAAAR ARRR ARRR GODDAMN INSPECTOR GAAAR BAAA B-B-B-B-B-EEEEEP!” or “B-B-B-B-B-EEEEEP! ARRRR GARRRR BRAWWWWWW GODDAMN JOBSITE ARRRR BRAWWWW GARRRR ARRRRR AIR COMPRESSOR B-B-B-B-B-EEEEEP!” Joe Contractor will be rambling on with the landscaper about irrigation zones while the film rolls, AND NOBODY CARES. Nobody complains, nobody shooshes, nobody rins out for an usher or manager. Why? Because almost everybody else in the damn theater is a contractor with a Nextel strapped to their belt. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-will-teach-you-to-turn-your-f-ing-cell-phone-off-during-a-show/332318/51 "2005-11-23T14:44:58Z")
[QUOTE=Tracy Lord] Well, there are people like doctors who _do_ have to be on-call 24/7./QUOTE] Surely those people can afford a phone that can be set to vibrate. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-will-teach-you-to-turn-your-f-ing-cell-phone-off-during-a-show/332318/52 "2005-11-23T15:06:41Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Doctors on call 24/7 generally don’t attend, and disrupt theater productions. Jerks, and mommies with entitlement issues who need to take calls from their homies, and babysitters, do. How dare they! Mommies feeling they are entitled to hearing about an emergency with their child when it happens. :rolleyes: Sorry my phone stays on for emergency purposes. Of course it’s on vibrate and I would go into th lobby to return the call. Sorry if you don’t like it. On second thought, no I’m not. (FTR I’m a daddy not a mommy, not that it matters). ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-will-teach-you-to-turn-your-f-ing-cell-phone-off-during-a-show/332318/53 "2005-11-23T15:23:36Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > How dare they! Mommies feeling they are entitled to hearing about an emergency with their child when it happens. :rolleyes: Sorry my phone stays on for emergency purposes. Of course it’s on vibrate and I would go into th lobby to return the call. Sorry if you don’t like it. On second thought, no I’m not. (FTR I’m a daddy not a mommy, not that it matters). And that’s a reasonable way to deal with it. No one is disturbed either by the ringing, or your conversation. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-will-teach-you-to-turn-your-f-ing-cell-phone-off-during-a-show/332318/54 "2005-11-23T15:57:07Z")
Mike Sherman (coach of the GB Packers) cut off a press conference (and a later PC by Favre) when one of the reporters’ cell phones went off. Of course, it was also a good excuse for not answering questions about why the team sucks so much this year. Brian ---
**Author:** ![Einmon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Einmon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Einmon)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-will-teach-you-to-turn-your-f-ing-cell-phone-off-during-a-show/332318/55 "2005-11-23T17:13:29Z")
Recently, I was on holiday in Latvia and I was shocked to see that not only is it customary to _answer_ the phone if you get a call inside a movie theater. NO! If Latvian teens deem the movie to be boring, they may actually _call_ all their friends to tell them about it (that’s what I assumed as I don’t speak Latvian). ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-will-teach-you-to-turn-your-f-ing-cell-phone-off-during-a-show/332318/56 "2005-11-23T18:50:02Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Excuse me? Doctors on call most certainly DO go to the theater. Military on call most certainly DO go to the theater. _I_ go to the theater WITH my cell phone. > > My parents are both in their 80s. You want me to have an emergency incoming call supressed by some generic equipment? _I_ put my phone on vibrate. I will most certainly sue you if you cause me to miss a call telling me that my father just had a heart attack, or my mother fell down the stairs simply because some other asshat cant put their phone on vibrate. What I said was, “Doctors on call 24/7 generally don’t attend, AND DISRUPT theater productions.” A doctor waiting on that organ transplant is going to put his or her pager on vibrate. You, I have a feeling, are going to be the one taking a call from your girlfriend/boyfriend who just wants to know “whatcha doin’?” or from the babysitter because little Suzie won’t go to bed until she hears mommy or daddy’s voice “just one more time.” And apparently, you’re willing to sue anyone who VIOLATES YOUR CIVIL RIGHTS by telling you to take your silly unimportant phone calls outside. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-will-teach-you-to-turn-your-f-ing-cell-phone-off-during-a-show/332318/57 "2005-11-23T19:23:09Z")
> [@Mr Bus Guy](#): > > And that’s a reasonable way to deal with it. No one is disturbed either by the ringing, or your conversation. Yes but if my phone signal has been dampened or I have been forced to give it up before I can go in I will not get that important message. That’s the point, the Draconian measures that some are asking for will hurt the majority who are responsible. I don’t go to the theater very often, I can’t afford it. When I have gone I see the whole theater reach for their phones when the no cell phone message is said. I have never heard a phone go off. I don’t doubt that it does happen but I have not seen it. No doubt I would have been pissed if someones phone went off when I saw _Spamalot_. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-will-teach-you-to-turn-your-f-ing-cell-phone-off-during-a-show/332318/58 "2005-11-23T19:50:26Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Yes but if my phone signal has been dampened or I have been forced to give it up before I can go in I will not get that important message. That’s the point, the Draconian measures that some are asking for will hurt the majority who are responsible. I don’t see what the big deal is. When you get on a plane and you know you’re going to be flying at 40,000 feet for the next five hours with no phone service, what do you do? When you go to the hospital and see a sign that says “no cell phones beyond this point” what do you do? I don’t see a huge problem going to the theater and seeing a sign that says “mobile phone frequencies are blocked within this theater, please consult an usher if you’re expecting an urgent message.” ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-will-teach-you-to-turn-your-f-ing-cell-phone-off-during-a-show/332318/59 "2005-11-23T19:59:15Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I don’t know why someone hasn’t invented a device that would cancel out all cell phone signals in theaters, but I suppose someone would bitch about how their kid was dying of cancer and they absolutely must attend the theater while also maintaining communication with their waiting-for-the-baby-to-die-of-cancer babysitter. > > :rolleyes: There already are such devices - there are just illegal in the USA at this point, well, at least commercially. [Here](http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/story1a092200.html) is a link that will tell you all about it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-will-teach-you-to-turn-your-f-ing-cell-phone-off-during-a-show/332318/60 "2005-11-23T20:03:18Z")
I’ll probably regret this, but I’m willing to push the argument a little further. Phone on vibrate? Not good enough. Not if the user is going to react by immediately whipping out his/her phone, lighting up his/her little corner of the Globe (ha!), and/or standing up in the middle of the show to make his way past the other patrons to and up the aisle, creating more bonus lighting and sound effects on the way out of the auditorium to the lobby. Another inconvenient fact is that phones on vibrate _do_ make a noise – at least, many of them do. And it doesn’t affect just an unlucky few near the user – it affects the performers, which affects everybody, orchestra and balcony. To whatever extent a person is so important and irreplaceable that they must not be denied instant contact at any hour with their client-patient-employer-babysitter-psychic friend-Commissioner Gordon, that’s the extent to which they must deny themselves those indulgences (like the theater) where people gather for other purposes not accomodating to interruption. To do otherwise is to make a present of their problems and obligations and gift them to strangers – which is just…plain…rude. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-will-teach-you-to-turn-your-f-ing-cell-phone-off-during-a-show/332318.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-will-teach-you-to-turn-your-f-ing-cell-phone-off-during-a-show/332318.md?page=4)