Cell Phone RANT
* I was waiting in line at the gass station, the person ahead of me finished fueling their car put their gas cap back on and their cell phone rang. I had to sit and wait while they completed their call (about 4 minutes) before they got in their car and moved it so I could get my gas. * At the grocery store, crowded because it was Saterday, it seemed as if every cart in front of me was being operated by a cell phone toting, talking person. They weren't shopping, just walking slowly down the isle talking on their cell phone (apparently when the cell phone hits the ear, feet also slow down). * While standing in line at the grocery store I had to listen to the intimate details of the marital troubles of the women in front of me. She was discussing her problems with someone on her cell phone in a voice loud enough to be heard four registers aways. * I stopped at Barnes and NOble to pick up a book. The Cell phones TALKERS WERE EVERYWHERE, every stack, every isle there were people blocking the view of the books as they stood there having conversations on their cell phones as if they were standing in their own kitchen. * I purchased a book and went to the coffee shop for a cup of coffee while I waited for Ty to be done at the groomers. FORGET reading my book and enjoying my coffee, it was impossible with the cell phone ringing and all the phone conversations going on. Did you ever notice that two people can be sitting at a table in a restaurant having a conversation and you can't hear what they are saying. Take one person, put them at the same table on a cell phone and the voice level goes up by leaps and bounds (poor reception in the building I suppose) so you are force to endure every word of their PRIVATE conversation. * I went to the groomers to pick Ty up after having him clipped. The women ahead of me got a phone call on her cell just as she was starting to write her check. The clerk, me and the person behind us had to all wait while she answered her phone, explained where she was and told the caller she would call them back. Isn't that what voice mail is for? Has everbody lost their mind? Have we become a society of cell phone obsessed individuals? The teeneagers have long been cell-obnoxious but now it has become common and accepted behavior for ADULTS to engage in the same behavior that just a couple years ago they scoweled at the teens for. I have had a cell phone for over 15 years. My first cell phone was the "bag phone", remeber it? It weighed over 10lbs and you needed a strong man to haul it around for you. I am never without my cell phone. BUT, my cell phone is rarely on. I only turn it on if I am expecting an "important call". The world is not my phone booth. If my phone rings in a public place I step aside so that I am not blocking the way of others. I speak in a low tone so that everyone around me does not have to listen to every detail of my conversation and heaven forbid if my cell rings at an inopportune moment, I let the voice mail pick it up and return the call as soon as I can. Nowadays it feels like we are all living in a GIANT PHONE BOOTH and there is no such thing as a "private phone call" anymore 
WHEW, I just had to get THAT off my chest!!!! |
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| We have 3 cells phones, but they are never turned on, and I rarely remember to bring it with me, and only take one on longer trips in case of emergency...
I find them annoying, I really don't want people to have the ability to get a hold of me anytime anywhere. LOL |
| Unfortunately I am one of those people that not only has 1 cell phone - I have 2.Because of what I do and the constant traveling due to my job - I have one for business that I have to answer anytime between 7 a.m. & 9 p.m. regardless of where I am at. The second cell phone I have is my personal cell and it enables anyone in my family, doctors, school personnel to reach me at any time. I try to have some courtesy when I am in a restaurant I will put them both on vibrate/silent and if a calls come in I will excuse myself.
If you pass by me in your car and see me talking to myself - I really am talking but using my blue tooth so that my hands are free. The cell phone users that annoy me are the ones in their car, head bent holding the phone between their ear and their shoulder, smoking a cigarette or drinking a coke and trying to drive as well. That scares me! If someone is near me and is talking loudly I have been known to tap them on the shoulder and whisper to them "You are a little loud do you mind?" If they give me dirty looks, oh well, in a city this size what are the chances we will ever meet up again?  |
| I am in total agreement. I hate it when someone is holidng everyone up in a checkout line because they have to anwer their cell phone and then having to hear their entire conversation.
Being in jobs where I have had to spend most of my time on the phone, I hate talking on the phone, the exception being talking to my kids that live in other states so I don't see them often. I did finally get a TracFone a year ago which I generally keep in my car. The only time I turn it on is when I am traveling and will be away from home for a couple of days -so my kids can reach me in case of an emergency> Otherwise, it is there just in case. I do agree, it is a nice feeling to think you can "usually" make a phone call if you need to. |
| Don't get me wrong, I'm not "anti phone" I think cell phones have been an incredible time saver. I've always had a job where I had to "take call", I remember how annoying it was in the old days, the pager would go off and you would have to hunt down a pay phone to call in.
Cell phones have been around quite awhile now but it has only been in the last couple of years I have noticed the total disregard that some people have for those around them when it come to using them. |
| Excellent point Ginny. I never use my cell phone
while driving, I'm concentrating on avoiding drivers who are using them. This week alone I avoided two incidents where drivers were engaged in conversation on the phone and not paying attention while driving at top speed. Not out to offend anyone who uses their phone while driving, but in our area the number of 'near misses' is really getting scary. But the absolute loser of the week, was the guy on his motorcycle who went between the car who was passing me and my car with a sliver of silly millimeters to spare. Hope the state police catch up to him and take his motorcycle license away................ The lady who was passing me was on her cell and clueless until she realized this speeding bullet was speeding away from our cars. Real scary.............. |
| Add me to the list of disgusted people. My phone is in my purse.....OFF! I understand having to answer the phone for work, but please, not while driving! Is it too much to ask to put a message on your phone saying you are driving and value your safety and the safety of others. You'll get back to the caller as soon as you find a safe place.
And as for using cell phones in public areas.......ever try to eat a meal while the lady across the aisle you describes.......in detail........her recent medical procedure for something very, very private. It's not just ladies either, men I really don't want to know about your PSA and prostate exam. Been to a movie lately? People describing the movie while they talk on the phone. Friday nite at the opera they insisted people not use their cell phones, but come intermission the place light up with people checking their voice mails. I doubt everyone in the audience was a doctor...... Don't you just love the folks doing their grocery shopping by phone, walking up and down the asiles, "Honey, do we need............" Someone needs to invest an electromagnetic shield that can be operated around certain buildings that prevents cell phone useage! Or better yet, a small zapper I can aim at obnoxious cell phone users that instantly disables their phones! |
SheepieBoss wrote: Someone needs to invest an electromagnetic shield that can be operated around certain buildings that prevents cell phone useage! Or better yet, a small zapper I can aim at obnoxious cell phone users that instantly disables their phones!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love it!!! In my state it is against the law to talk on a cell phone while driving. Not that everyone obeys but at least it cuts down on the number. I was at a High School Graduation last week and the man behind me received 5 phone calls during the ceremony!!!!!!!!! Can you imagine!!!!!!!!!!!! |
Tasker's Mom wrote: I was at a High School Graduation last week and the man behind me received 5 phone calls during the ceremony!!!!!!!!! Can you imagine!!!!!!!!!!!!
Years ago we were on tour in Spain, oh yes-cell phones ringing at the bull fight  |
Tasker's Mom wrote: * I was waiting in line at the gass station, the person ahead of me finished fueling their car put their gas cap back on and their cell phone rang. I had to sit and wait while they completed their call (about 4 minutes) before they got in their car and moved it so I could get my gas.
I would've sat on my horn 
I'm in complete agreement. I'm not much of a phone talker as I like to get directly to the point and keep things brief. When we moved to our home over a year ago, we decided to not have a land line and to use our cell phones. It was such a waste to pay for an additional phone line that we never used. The rude cell phone stuff really bugs me!!! People seem to think they ALWAYS need to be in touch with whomever's on the phone. Both of my parents do this and I tell them they are being rude. My Dad will answer the phone for business while he and I are sitting at lunch. I ask him to turn the phone off or he can reschedule our lunch date. My Mom loves to talk to everyone. We were once in Trader Joe's and she received a call from a friend and held up people while talking in the aisle. I told her that I didn't have all day and that she could talk to them later. Whether at home or out on the town, I keep the phone off or just let it go to voicemail. If it's that important, they'll leave a message. |
| It's funny because everyone I talk to seems to feel this way about cell phones, yet the annoying cell phone people are everywhere. I think the problem is much bigger than the phones. People are just self centered and rude. If that wasn't the case, they wouldn't assume that their conversation should interrupt anything else that's going on.
With the exception of Darcy, I don't think I ever have a phone call that lasts longer than 3 minutes anyway! |
| I agree, many people have no common sense with regards to their cell phones (but this could just start a whole new thread about people just not having any common sense anymore, period).
I use my cell phone on a regular basis. I hardly turn it off. But, if I am someplace crowded (like say the grocery store) I won't answer it, or, if I need to call my husband to ask if we need milk because I forgot to check, I'll step out of the way. And I can understand why so people at the opera turn on their phones during intermission--could they have children at home and are checking to see if they called and were in trouble? |
I talk in barnes and noble in the starbucks area. Of course I don't scream into my phone either like some people do - then again some people are just loud anyway. 
If I need to talk while I am traveling I'll talk while I'm stationary instead of driving - which means that sometimes I might have a phone conversation while I'm parked in front of a pump. I'll usually move if I see someone but sometimes the stations are so crowded that if I pull out someone will get behind me and want me to move out of the station. I'll go for the person who is cheesed off behind me for talking before I accidentally run into someone because I need to meet up with my husband somewhere and I need directions. I've never had this happen yet though. I don't hold up lines - I don't get in the way when people need to move. I hate talking in a resturant but I will if I am alone and usually I try to talk in an inside voice whenever I do. People who are rude on cell phones are the people who are rude anyway. If you'll notice the jerk who talks on his cell phone like he is screaming down a long hallway? He's the one who sits with his friends and talks at the top of his lungs about the protate exam. |
| It aggravates me too. Someone had theirs on at the theater the other day and it rung a few times too. Ruined the movie...who would be so uncurteous to take a call in a theater and not at least walk out?
For me, I hardly use my phone. No one really ever calls us except our parents, and we're hardly out after 5 when they get home from work. I do use it in the car, but we have it set up where all we do is push a button (easy to reach) and our loudspeaker kicks in and we talk that way. The calls are always really short though. We use our cell phone as our home phone now (since our home phone bill was running us $150/mo and our cell phone is only $50/mo with nation wide long distance and unlimited incoming/outgoing minutes 24/7..much cheaper!). I do leave it on all the time (silenced in theater because of the kids - my voicemail doesn't kick in if the phone is turned off and you never know when an emergency will come up, but like I said...we hardly even use the phone. Neither of us like to talk on the phone.  |
| I drive and talk on the phone frequently. Of course when something demands my attention on the road, the person on the other end will get nothing, no speech and no attention. If I was talking I just suddenly stop. If I was listening, they'll have to repeat themselves.
My cell phone (an LG VX8100 with Verizon) is really bad for hearing. Joan and I both have one and are constantly asking people to repeat themselves. I purchased a bluetooth earset and it's wonderful, as long as I don't turn up the volume too loud. If I do, the other person here's there own voice in an echo. PS in NY, it's illegal to drive while using a handheld cell phone; earphones are allowed, IIRC PPS they HAVE come up with cell phone jamming technology. It's illegal (federally) to block radio signals, so they are illegal TO USE, but lots of people own them. (Some of them look like cellphones! So when someone jams you and they keep talking on their fake cellphone, you'll never suspect anything but your own phone! lol ) Movie theater operators want the right to use jamming technology, but so far it's a no go. |
Ron wrote: I drive and talk on the phone frequently. Of course when something demands my attention on the road, the person on the other end will get nothing, no speech and no attention. If I was talking I just suddenly stop. If I was listening, they'll have to repeat themselves.
My cell phone (an LG VX8100 with Verizon) is really bad for hearing. Joan and I both have one and are constantly asking people to repeat themselves. I purchased a bluetooth earset and it's wonderful, as long as I don't turn up the volume too loud. If I do, the other person here's there own voice in an echo. PS in NY, it's illegal to drive while using a handheld cell phone; earphones are allowed, IIRC PPS they HAVE come up with cell phone jamming technology. It's illegal (federally) to block radio signals, so they are illegal TO USE, but lots of people own them. (Some of them look like cellphones! So when someone jams you and they keep talking on their fake cellphone, you'll never suspect anything but your own phone! lol ) Movie theater operators want the right to use jamming technology, but so far it's a no go. Hmm...I wonder if that's what the base is using? As soon as you get on the base, the cell phone service becomes dead. It used to not be that way... Not sure if that's it, but there's something interferring with the cell phones. Oddly enough, the government cells for the employees work just fine but no one else's does. |
| I WANT ONE OF THOSE THINGS! |
| I too find the need to be on the phone constantly extremely annoying and often dangerous.
Has anyone heard the radio commercial...I think for budweiser...for the loud cellphone talker guy? Hilarious. The way I see it...I am not that important. I don't need to be constantly available to friends, family and the public at large. My cell phone is for my convenience. It is not convenient for me to be interuppted while checking out at the grocery store. If I ran into a friend while checking out...would I stop what I was doing to talk to them, regardless of the people waiting behind me...NO. It is not convenient for me to interrupt my movie going experience to relay the plot to a friend. Why would I want to miss part of the movie I paid to see so that I could tell someone else what is going on? I wouldn't. It is not convenient for me to risk my life while driving so I can take a phone call. I'm sorry mom, but you can wait to talk to me until I am home in 20 minutes. It is not convenient for me to reveal intimate details of my life to the general public. I don't want them to know that I will out of town for a week, or that I'm trying out a new deodorant 
It is not convenient for me to answer my phone while out to dinner. Perhaps I want to talk to the people that I went out to dinner with. It is just sad that as a society we are already so isolated from eachother...now we don't even talk to eachother when we are together...we talk to someone else on our cell phone. |
Amanda P wrote: It is just sad that as a society we are already so isolated from eachother...now we don't even talk to eachother when we are together...we talk to someone else on our cell phone.
Great post Amanda! I agree, communication has completely changed because of cell phones and computers. A few years ago I read a study some university did that studied people who were unusually "lucky". The kind of people who always found the perfect job opportunity, or met the right social contacts, or found the perfect significant other. It turned out that "lucky" people had a tendency to chat with strangers. By striking up random conversations in grocery store lines and waiting rooms, people would wind up with valuable contacts. But now, you can't do that anymore. Everyone is so busy on the phone that less of those "random" connections happen. |
| OMG are you saying that if I want to get lucky I have to chat with strangers?
Imagine that. |
| Great perspective Amanda!!! We were out to dinner a couple weeks ago and there was a young couple near by. They each spent most of the meal on their seperate cell phones, I couldn't figure out why they bothered to go out together at all!!!!! |
| Ron- the hospitals, clinics and schools in MN use cell phone jammers... is it just illegal in NY? or maybe for personal use?
I love my cell, but I always try to use it respectfully. I sit down to talk if I'm in a public area, never use it when driving, etc. Yesterday, I used it to call my sister when she wandered off at the gigantic nursery we were at... and then she yelled at me because she wasn't "lost" even though we couldn't find her. 
By the way, I don't think it is just phone manners that are going down the tube, I think our culture has lost most of their manners in general. that is a whole nother topic though... |
| In the waiting room outside my Cardiac Rehab room there is a sign on EVERY WALL that says, "CARDIAC MONITORS IN USE, PLEASE TURN CELL PHONES OFF". I am amazed at the number of people who sit under or in front of the sign chatting on their phone.
When I point out the sign ands nicely ask them to turn off the phone I actually get people who tell me they can't , "it's important", "it's work", "I have to leave my phone on for........ to reach me". They actually think their phone call is more important then the LIFE of the patient exercising in the room next door!! |
| Last time I checked, perhaps a year or two ago, there is not a single case where digital cellphones have caused a malfunction in hospital equipment. Same in planes.
Even though the same signs were all over the place at Brigham and Women's hospital in Boston, several doctors answered and made calls in patient rooms in the CICU. Even if they weren't talking on phones, when the phones are turned on, they are in constant communication with the cell tower, so it doesn't amtter much whether you're talking on them or they're in your pocket. Same goes for cell phone jamming. Last I checked it was a year or two ago. Now, nothing prevents them from building a building that cell phones don't like, but you can't broadcast a jamming signal. Further, just imagine the liability if someone needed to make a call to, say, 911 because someone was having a heart attack, yet the campus was broadcasting a jamming signal? Would I have a right to broadcast a jamming signal in my house that leaked into the public street and caused everyone's call to be dropped who just happened to be driving by? Chaos. |
| I so agree Ginny. It not worth endangering someone so you can take a call. When my grandfather had his heart surgery the hospital provided my grandmother with a special phone (with an individual #) to use. Those phones don't interefere with the equipment so families can keep in contact with their worried loved ones. Those are the only phones that work in the hospital, and what a god send, both for patients saftey and for the peace of mind of the families trying to find out how their loved one is doing. I hope the idea catches on in more areas. Convenience should always take second string to safety! |
Ron wrote: OMG are you saying that if I want to get lucky I have to chat with strangers?
Imagine that. What kind of lucky are we talking? |
I have no idea what you mean  |
| You are right Ron, studies are showing that cell phones don't seem to interfere with medical equipment. Until about a year ago we didn't make an issue out of it. Then I started to run into 60cycle noise and unknown interference on my monitors from time to time. The company recommended that we restrict the use of cell phones in the waiting area jus adjacent to the room on the off chance that there was some level of frequency that was causing a problem.
I guess the point is it's a medical facility, the sign says "PLEASE TURN OFF CELL PHONES" is that so difficult to respect? If you are there, you are there to see a Health Care Professional NOT TALK ON THE PHONE!!! |
| I too am in total agreement. My husband uses his cell for work, which I can understand. Mine is always in my purse. Turned on, but put away. Inevitably, either my husband or daughter will call while I'm driving home to relay some insignificant little detail that can wait till I get home. I have to start breaking them of that habit!
I remember the "bag" phones too, Ginny. Had one myself. Back in the day when we used to call them "car" phones, cause no one would take them out! PA hasn't outlawed talking while driving yet, but I think it's close. Here's my concern, from my own experiences. When someone calls me while I'm driving, I keep driving while talking but can't remember how I got from point A when the call came in to point B when the call ended! It's scary!! Did I go through a red light? Did I make a turn in front of someone? I can't answer those questions, because my mind is not on my driving. My daughter goes NOWHERE without her phone, and she's been known to have 15 min conversations while driving. I keep trying to break her of that, but she's 20 years old - you know, at the age where they know EVERYTHING!! I KINDA understand about people keeping their phones on vibrate in the movies. But just how the heck did my generation go to the movies and leave our kids at home with sitters and be totally unavailable during that time?? We must have been TERRIBLE parents!
And here's the best one. Like I said, my phone is always in my purse and turned on. I have the ring (which is a normal ring, thank you very much - the specialized ring tones are the subject of yet ANOTHER thread!) set fairly loud because I find that if I'm in a mall or something, I can't hear the phone. A few weeks ago, my daughter called my cell WHILE I WAS IN CHURCH!!!!! She knew where I was, but she couldn't find her work shoes, and - "Mom - do you know where they are??? I have to leave for work in 10 minutes!!" Mom's reply - "No, I don't know where they are. Good-bye!" Geesh!!!! I was SO embarrassed and made sure she knew to NEVER call me in church again. "But Mom . . ." "No buts! The only time you're allowed to call me in church is if the house is on fire or you're in mortal danger." Heaven help us!! |
Ron wrote: Last time I checked, perhaps a year or two ago, there is not a single case where digital cellphones have caused a malfunction in hospital equipment. Same in planes.
Cell phones don't interfere with equipment on planes. I once asked a pilot about that and he said "No sane pilot would agree to fly a plane with instrumentation that could be influenced by someone in the passenger cabin". Cell phones interfere with the passengers' ability to listen to the crew and follow safety instructions. Even though it is standard to shut off your cell phone when the door closes, the poor flight attendants still have to wander through the plane asking people on those "important" calls to hang up their damn phones. The day they make it legal to talk during a flight I'm going to have to change careers because it would be a nightmare to be stuck next to some self important cell phone addict for several hours with no escape. |
Bailey's Mom wrote: The day they make it legal to talk during a flight I'm going to have to change careers because it would be a nightmare to be stuck next to some self important cell phone addict for several hours with no escape.
OMG
I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like if people were allowed to use cell phones on airplanes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That may be the last bastian of cell phone free society we have!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| http://news.com.com/Study+Cell+talkers+ ... 89908.html
By the way, have you seen this study? It proved that people talking on cell phones while driving actually drive worse than drunk drivers. The scariest part was that three of the cell phone drivers crashed during the simulation - while none of the drunk drivers crashed. |
| Several years ago Santa Fe, New Mexico outlawed hand held cell phones in cars, but allowed the hands-free. When asked a few months later a city official said, "We should have completely outlawed all cell phones while driving......period. Hands-free are just as dangerous." |
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