Cell phone users.

[VINMAN]

Is it me, or did the advent of the cell phone create a whole new level of rudeness???
I think the thing that burns my ass the most, is people talking on the phone while they are at a checkout counter. Man, that irks me. Especially the ones using a head set. I just think that is so obnoxious. Not to mention the ones in the restaraunts sittin at the table yaking loudly while you are trying to enjoy your meal.
My wifes a restaurant manager, one night I was sittin at the bar waitin for her , a woman behind me at a table was on her phone, practically screaming into it . Finally after about 10 mins I turned around and told her "do us all a favor , please take your F***ing phone outside and give everyone thats trying to enjoy a nice dinner , a break " She looked at me like I had 2 heads. My wife practically hid under a table. She was like "I cant believe you just did that"!! Meanwhile a few people at tables gave a small round of applause. I told my wife somebody in this place had to do something. Man she was pissed at me. Was I wrong??Ok mabye I could have been a little more diplomatic about it . But Ive just about had enough of all the cell phone rudeness.

BTW, the woman In the restaurant got a free drink on the house to apologise for the customer that was " RUDE " to her. ( needless to say I was slightly P.O.d at my wife for that.)

[84porsche]

I totally agree. Cell phones did create this. I have a cell phone as does almost everybody but when I am in a restaurant or anywhere in public I mute my phone and I wait to call someone back. It is more or less an answering machine for me. It is exceptionally rude. The worst thing is when you are driving in the car with someone and they answer their phone and start talking to someone else when you are sitting right next to them. Its ok if you are getting directions or something but not just to chat. It is one of my pet peeves. Cell phones are a convenience and they should be used as such but not at the extreme that they are. If you are a doctor or someone that needs to be found in an emergency then fine but otherwise shut the phone off.

[UconnTim97]

I think you did the right thing.. I hate when coworkers are chatting on cell phones all day.

[djmcmath]

I'll play DA: I don't mind at all of someone uses a normal level of voice on their cell phone in the restaurant, or if they can still get through the checkout line expeditiously while yammering away. If they can manage to drive and talk at the same time, good on 'em. OTOH, if they can't follow simple common sense guidelines of human courtesy, that's definitely across the line. Maybe I'm biased, because I'm always on call for my job, so I absolutely have to have my cell phone on all the time.

My personal cell phone peeve? Someone's phone goes off in a meeting, or church service, or movie, or whatever. That's pretty obnoxious in it's own right. But the expert jerk will ignore it. People sitting nearby will ask "Is that your phone ringing in your purse/coat/pocket?" and received the dumbfounded "I don't know what you're talking about" look while the phone rings "The Entertainer" over and over again. Then finally, there's a silence while the caller leaves a message, followed by an equally obnoxious "You have a new voice message" sound. Aargh.


Dan

[vash]

perfect, i would die without my cellphone, but i do realize there is a time and place for it. there is no reason whatsoever to forget manners.

[Moneyguy1]

What I cannot figure out is: Are these people so afraid of being alone or have such a poor self image that they have to continually talk?

Personally, I enjoy a bit of solitude.

[RANDY P]

Up here in WA it's like the techno - dork capital of the world so up here everyone has to be "connected" to be fashionable-

Pagers and cell phone are NOT accesories, and should not be worn as such.

I hate mine. The thought of anyone being able to reach out to me anytime bugs the crap out of me. Glad you ripped Mrs. Cellphone...

rjp

[ZAMIRZ]

Originally posted by RANDY P

I hate mine. The thought of anyone being able to reach out to me anytime bugs the crap out of me. Glad you ripped Mrs. Cellphone...

I feel the same way Randy, as a matter of fact when I lost my phone around this time last year I just decided I wasn't going to have a cell phone for that very reason. At the time, nobody cared either way, but around spring time more than a few people started to tell me that I was being selfish going out without a phone where they couldn't reach me (pathetic, I know and told them) and this lead to my own mom buying me a cell phone and now she pays the bill. I have some female friends who have pet names for their phones or call their phones their baby, it's disgusting and funny at the same time. I have 1 friend who had an older Nextel and he riced it out by putting a strobe and blue LED lights on the back of it that blink obnoxiously when the phone is in use, one day his dad was talking to him about something and his phone went off and he totally blew his dad off and picked up the phone. His dad hesitated for a moment and then snatched the phone from his ear, threw it on the ground as hard as he could making it shatter into pieces and then stomped on it with his foot for good measure.

Also, do people not realize the amount of radiation going to their head from just babbling on the cell phone for hours on end. My father had a malignant tumor in his brain that he almost died of, so that just makes me more conscious of it I guess.

[VINMAN]

I cracks me up, when my friends or relatives get mad at me when I dont answer my phone. I tell them "I'm not like you, I dont walk around with my phone in my hand constantly". Most of the time I leave it in my car. I have it so I can call someone when I want, not for people to get a hold of me when they want. I hate having it on me. Bad enough I have to have a pager on me( my job requires it).
My dream is to invent a device that you can just point at someones cell phone and zap it! I'd probably lose my job, because I work for the countrys largest phone co. But I'm sure id make alot of $$$ of it!

[RickM]

The higher end restaraunts around here really frown at the use of cellphones in their establishment. I would have pulled the waiter or matre 'di aside and explained that I was not happy with the environment.

I too am sick of the stupidity people display when in the car, at the checkout etc with a phone stuck in their head.

[djmcmath]

Cell phone jamming is the up and coming tech, of course. Used to be a neat-o spy tool for making an area secure, now available for restaurants, movie theatres, etc. It's basically just an area-of-effect in which your cell phone gets no signal. So if you're a classy restaurant who'd like to ban cell phones, but don't want to strip-search people to keep the phones out, a cell phone jammer makes a lot of sense.

Next project: hand-held directional cellphone jammers, so you can select an individual obnoxious person and take their signal away.

Dan

[RickM]

Kind of sounds like the Radar Detector false alarm units they used to sell. Wanna scare the crap out of the guy next to you on the highway? Just a click away from full alarm mode.

[}{arlequin]

I know they are necessary, but I hate them anyway. Personally, I am embarrassed talking on it too loudly in public. Unless it's a "ok, i'll see you there" kind of a conversation, I have no interest in others hearing what I have to say.

They should start banning their use from most indoor facilities. Nobody would bring their boom-box into a restaurant and start playing it at the cell-phone-conversation volume, what's the difference???

Long ago (around '95 I think) I read an interesting article. It totally went against all convention at the time, but it struck me. Back then, cell phones were still considered pricey and an important status symbol. It was definitely not an essential item for 8th graders.

That article mentioned that there will come a time when NOT HAVING a cell phone will become a status symbol. It viewed the phone as a leash. Anyone, esp. your boss, will be able to reach you, anywhere, anytime. Not having a cell would mean you are well off, running your own company, completely independent, or just having a sheer luxury of never being bothered by anyone. I love this concept.

I view answering my phone as a luxury for ME, not a necessity for you to reach me. It's for my convenience, not yours. If I'm expecting to receive certain info from someone, that's different.

Plus, think of all the trouble you wouldn't have been in with women if you didn't have to answer your cell phone each time they call....

[VINMAN]

Originally posted by djmcmath
Next project: hand-held directional cellphone jammers, so you can select an individual obnoxious person and take their signal away.

Dan

Thats exactly what I'm talking about!

[VINMAN]

Originally posted by RickM
[B]The higher end restaraunts around here really frown at the use of cellphones in their establishment. I would have pulled the waiter or matre 'di aside and explained that I was not happy with the environment.

/B]

Problem was, the restaraunt manager was my wife. When I complained to her, she told me to mind my business I wasnt a customer!! Since then they have put signs up.

[Moneyguy1]

Not having one as a status symbol.

One of George Carlin's acts he refers to way back wearing an earring as a symbol of nonconformity. He gave it up later because suddenly everyone had one...or more....

When, a few years back, we were issued pagers, we did not view them as any kind of symbol but a leash. We were never free.

[cowtown]

Urinal phoners are just about the worst, in my book. I just can't believe they have the nerve to do it.

[RickM]

Originally posted by VINMAN
Problem was, the restaraunt manager was my wife. When I complained to her, she told me to mind my business I wasnt a customer!! Since then they have put signs up.

LOL, I see. I'd be mad too.

Funny you guys mention that's it's a luxury not to have one. That's the way I feel.

Recently, I was in a pretty nice place about to have dinner with my wife. I realized I had my phone in a vest pocket. When I turned it off it made it's usual queer melody power-off tune. As I'm putting it back into my pocket a woman loudly/rudely tells me not to use the phone in the restaraunt. My wife explains to her what I was doing (as if the lady cared). It took a lot of restraint on my part not to verbally rip this woman's head off.

[RickM]

Originally posted by cowtown
Urinal phoners are just about the worst, in my book. I just can't believe they have the nerve to do it.

Don't want to borrow their phone.

[RickM]

Originally posted by Moneyguy1

When, a few years back, we were issued pagers, we did not view them as any kind of symbol but a leash. We were never free.

But a few years earlier than that you were a doctor if you had one. (Or a tow truck driver, heh heh)