What are the rules of cell phone etiquette and usage?
 

Three incidents from the past couple of weeks made me think of this.

First incident: I'm teaching a class in Children's literature during the summer session. At the beginning of the first part of the first class period, I go over procedures and class policies, including that for cell phones. The procedure is simple: Turn off cell phones before class begins. Half an hour into the first class session, a woman's cell phone rings in her purse. She fumbles to get it out of her purse, I assume to turn it off. Instead, she gets it out and takes the call during class. It escalated from there, but that's a story for another thread.

This is just one example; it happens quite often in my middle school classes, also. My college students usually get it the first time; it takes a few confiscated cell phones and detentions for the middle schoolers to understand. Some remain unmoved even to the end of the year.

Second incident: Grace and I are watching Batman Begins, in a theater with stadium seating, where each row is elevated a foot or so higher than the row in front of it. About ten minutes into the movie, a someone in one of the early rows flips open his cell phone. When you do this, the screen is clearly visible to every person sitting anywhere behind you. A voice from my right, a middle-aged man calls out, "Shut off the cell phone." No response from down front, so about 10 seconds later, "Shut off the cell phone!" The cell phone goes dark. I was ready to cheer.

When the movie ended the young gentleman who had the cell phone, dressed in gang chic clothing approached and confronted the man who had told him to shut off his phone, telling him [and I'm trying to quote exactly here] "Yo, dude, that was really rude. I wasn't doin' nothing. It's just my cell. You shouldn't have been on me like that."

The man calmly said, "Well, I guess there was rudeness on both sides then."

"Yo man, it's just my cell. I wasn't doing nothin'. It's just my cell."

"Your phone was visible to everyone in the theater. It's distracting. You should use you phone outside the theater."

"What? You want me to miss the movie? I wasn't talkin' or nothin'. It's just my cell. I wasn't doin' nothin'"

They were walking as this conversion went on, the man clearly trying to get away, the youth following him. The man tried to explain that the bright screen of a cell phone is distracting in the dark theater, and it might have been prudent to leave the theater to take his call. The youth's positions seemed to be that he wasn't doing nothing, it was just his cell. Fortunately for all involved, there was a passal of security guards there that day, patrolling outside the Batman theater, who approached the youth and the middle-aged man, which encouraged the youth to retreat and let the incident go.

Third incident: While watching Land of the Dead yesterday, I notice a cell phone screen pop up in the first row, followed by the woman holding it getting up and walking over to the tunnel, where I assume she took the call or text message or whatever. This proceeded to happen two or three more times. The third time I could hear her talking in the tunnel, and several people down low shushing her.

These last two incidents are typical of theater experiences. A few years ago, the problem was cell phones ringing in the theater, which would happen literally every time we went to the theater. Now people seem to have gotten the message that a ringing phone is a big distraction, and it only happens about every third time. The big problem now is the bright screens popping up in the dark.

Fourth incident: As I'm sitting at a stoplight waitinf for the light to change, a car pulls up on my left, and as I glance over, I see the woman driving, head down, looking at her phone, which is in one hand as the other dials or operates it--neither her hands on the wheel nor her eyes on the road, with her car still moving.

I would like to propose some general rules for cell phone usage.

I'll start with these three:

1. When you are in class turn your cell phone off. Using it during class time is rude to the teacher, and distracts you from learning what it is you are supposed to be learning. It also can be used to cheat, in a variety of ways.

2. When you are in a theater, turn your cell phone off. The cell phone is both visually and aurally distracting. Using it in either way is distracting and rude. If for some reason, you feel the need to make a call, get up, leave the theater, and do it outside. Your desire not to miss the movie does not take precedence over the right of the other patrons not to be distracted by your choice to use your phone during the movie.

3. When your car is on the road, your cell phone should be off. If you need to make a call, pull off the road and make your call with your car parked. Taking a call shouldn't be an issue, because your cell should be off.

Discussion, modification, or additions are welcome.

Here there's signs posted in the lobby for people to shut off their cell phones. If you use one while seated in the theatre, you will be asked to leave the building. The ushers are very prompt with this. This rocks. *thumbs up*

I totally agree that phones should not be used in a classroom setting. There is no need for this.
As for the driving, people should not talk while their vehicle is moving. Of course, the problem is everyone thinks that they are the exception to the rule. In this case they should follow themselves driving & talking on the phone. When they see themselves all over the place maybe they will clue in.
But I doubt it. I'm afraid this will be a public battle for some time, look how long it took to get people not to smoke in public places.

Generally anyone with common sense, and any hint of kindness to another the first two rules there are general law. Those who cannot follow those are often going to require a more extreme way of learning to follow common courtesy.

The third while I feel would be a great idea, just isnt always practical. New York state has laws where you cannot use a cell phone in any running vehicle. This includes the fact that you can be ticketed if you are sitting on the side of the road with the vehicle running. I wish more states were like this, harsh laws teach best.

You make it sound like that battle is over. I only wish it was.

I think the first two are dead-on, and (should be) obvious to anyone. I really wish people just understood some modicum of basic manners...I pretty much feel that in any public place where people are obviously trying to keep the noise level down, or else someone is performing/instructing/etc - phones should be off, or on vibrate at the most.

The calling the car thing I'm less worried about, if you 1. have a speakerphone, 2. have a headset.

edit: ps. sounds like someone needed to rant ;)

1) My cell phone is on during class time regardless whether it is lecture, or an exam. Simply because if I deem the phone call important (i'm not talking about "OMG MY BEST FRIEND CALLED I NEED TO ANSWER THE PHONE" as opposed to "my family is calling me, and this never happens at this time of day, therefore there is probably something I need to know") I may need to leave the class or exam to take it. However, my phone is ALWAYS on vibrate during these settings and to see who it is, I take it out of my pocket and view the screen on the outside my phone. If it is important, I walk out, if not, back into the pocket letting it vibrate.

2) Same as number 1.

3) Agree with number 3 fully. My cellphone is on for the same reasons as stated above. In this case, I WILL take a call from a friend. However, regardless of who calls, I find the closest parking lot, or place where I can stop to take the call.

I just can't stand people driving while talking on cellphones. Where I live, the people (including myself probably) are (for the most part) crappy drivers. We don't need something else to take away your concentration.

After reading your post, listening to cell phones don't seem that bad.

I agree except on the last one. I use my cell phone regularly on the phone. If I'm worried about something all it takes is a "hold on" and both hands are on the wheel and I'm concentrating 100% on the road. Mind you I'm only 18, but I've yet to have a car accident and I feel pretty safe driving when I'm talking.

I really dont mean to nit pick , but its usually that attitude that causes such accidents for teen related car wrecks. Sure we can all just say hold on, and go 2 hand approach at will. But if somthing split second happens, there is no way in hell you'll be able to react nearly as well as if you were not on the phone.

cell phones in cars should be against the law EVERYWHERE. i almost got run over last week because a fucking woman didnt think it was important to look to see if anyone was crossing... but it was more important to talk on the fucking phone. i tell you, if i had a gun... IF...

edit: i do not own a cell phone. i will never own a cell phone. it's the most useless thing. just another distraction. i see ppl playing games, taking pictures and telling ppl where they are. WHO GIVES A SHIT?

i take the bus and i see ppl calling to tell [family or friends] that they're on the bus on their way home... you couldnt wait 5min you fucking retard?!

oh btw:
rule #4: if your phone makes little beeeeping sounds, you will turn it off after 9 beeps. 9 = 555-555-5555 enough to make the call. you will not test out every ring tones, you will not play pong, and YOU WILL NOT send text message with the fucking BBEEEEEEPS on.

Agreed. At least get a hands free set. While it still does kinda irk me when I see someone talking on the phone with a hands free set (because it DOES take away your concentration), at least I know their hands are on the wheel.

I'm guilty of having my phone on on the theatre and talking on the road. However, I bought a headset for my phone specifically for use on the road, which allows me to keep both hands on the wheel and my eyes on the road. I'll dial at a traffic light if it's red and I'm stopped, but frequently glancing up at the light to make sure it stays red. If I receive a call in the theatre or at a meeting or what have you and I absolutely have to take it, I'll step outside.

I'm not sure I'd fault the woman who stepped into the hall, as she was outside the theatre and likely just didn't realize she could still be heard. The other two are inexcusable.

My position on cell phones is, I think, logical and can be understood by answering the following question:

"What did everyone do before the widespread use of cell phones?"

The world wasn't crying out for an end to land-line slavery. I think we were all just fine. Which one of the following problems seem trivial to you?

-cancer
-AIDS
-world hunger
-genocides
-the worldwide rich/poor divide
-lack of affordable widespread portable telecommunication devices

I don't mind the nit picking. I'm just sure enough in my driving that I feel I can do it comfortably. If I'm ever in a car accident because I was talking on the phone the first thing I'll do is get online and say "You told me so...", but I'm not worried.

Anyway, even if I weren't talking and d riving I'd still only drive with one hand. I feel 10X more comfortable when I don't have two hands that are fighting for the wheel, so I suppose the only difference is I'd have to drop my cell phone to grab the wheel with two hands instead of just grabbing it straight up.

A lot of the people people I've seen that can't drive while talking on a cell phone can't drive even when they're focused completely on the road.

As far as public settings, classrooms or meetings aren't a time to chat with someone sitting beside you, much less miles away.

I'm just curious, is it my writing style to which you object or is it the content? If the latter, did you have something to contribute to the discussion, or did you just intend to insult me?

Which one of these problems has a convenient and available solution right now? What did we do before regular phones? What did we do before electricity? What did we do before we had Interstate highways? What did we do before we had refrigeration for food?

We got along fine without stuff that makes life more convenient, but now that we have it, there's no sense in shunning it just because we were able to live without it. What did you do before the Internet? It has similar uses to cell phones: recreation, business, convenient communication and data transfer, and you're not telling us that we can get by just fine without it.

Start with your question, and back up through every technological advance we've made in the last five thousand years. Humans survived without them, but we got a lot farther after we had them. If I'm going to disconnect my cell phone because I got along fine without it, I might as well saddle up a horse and ride down to Amish country, becaus that's where that train of thought leads me.

I'll object to your content.....

Honestly, I don't care if I'm in a theater and someone just flips open his phone just to look up something. I paid to see the movie. Not watch this kid mess with his phone. I don't see how a tiny screen on a phone can be more distracting than the huge silver screen and the soundtrack that goes along with it. Now, if it's ringing and ringing and ringing, he answers and yacks away, that's different.

I don't have a problem with cell phones and driving either. Use a headset. Or go totally hands free and get voice recognition installed in your car. I can understand your frustrations regarding meetings, classrooms and other similar situations as phone use would be considered rude.

There are also situations where is is not possible to turn your phone off. For my job, sometimes I am on call and I have to be ready to go to work at a moments notice. That means keeping the phone on. While in a movie for example, it'll be on silent but if won't be off. There's no way I'm going to stay chained to my house waiting for my land line to ring on my on-call days when I can be out doing errands and other activities and carry a cell.

Overall, I can understand your frustrations and I see where you're coming from, but I think that you're just being a little too nit-picky about cell phone use. Realize that it's not possible for everyone to follow your set of rules but at the same time people could be a little more considerate.

I know of instructors who don't mind their students checking incoming calls and taking them in the hall during lecture. I'm not one of them. The act of taking out you phone and checking the screen to see who is calling is by itself a distraction, perhaps a minor one, but a distraction nonetheless. Getting up to go in the hall to take a call is a big distraction.

The one exception I grant is for those people who are in a situation where an emergency call might be anticipated. Husbands with pregnant wives late in their pregnancies, or medical personnel on call get exemptions solely for that purpose.

I don't know of any who permit the use of a cell phone during an exam. Cell phone cheating is rampant on college campuses. Having your cell phone out during any exam in one of my classes will result in your receiving a 0 on that exam.

I agree with the general sentiment that a lot of people don't have good etiquette while using their cell phones. I wouldn't even call it cell phone etiquette... it's just plain etiquette. I find cell-specific rules to be impractical as they are not the most effective way to get rude people to stop being rude and they are also a nuisance for people whose work involves emergencies (the kind where people need to go to the hospital and not "my daughter can't find her pink cardigan"). I don't have any problem with a doctor who is on call wanting to see a movie instead of twiddling her thumbs and then having to get up and leave in the middle of it to take a call. People get up to use the restroom all the time. Standing up is not a major disruption. The problem is the bright screen coming out every 20 seconds because some kid wants to read his text messages, or the lady who doesn't understand that she's supposed to leave the room to take a call.

I treat my cell phone like an old-fashioned land line that just happens to be handy in case of an emergency on the road. I don't chat on the phone unless I'm not doing anything or I'm expecting the call. I don't call people or answer it when I'm driving unless it's because I need directions from a friend, and I pull over to do it. I don't have it on in class or at performances so as not to disrupt the proceedings. There is hardly any emergency that I could prevent or fix by being able to take a call in the middle of a lecture or an exam instead of listening to my messages 45 minutes later when class is out. Phone calls go both ways and I can always call people back if it's really important. I just see calls as my private business and I use the cell in public only when I need to.

The rules are easy: be aware of the people around you and keep your private business private.

I can't imagine me sticking my hand in my pocket being a distraction to others, there is no sound, and it takes me about 3 seconds to check. But perhaps some of your students need to open bags and such, that I guess I can understand.

Yes, the exam thing is VERY true. Fortunately, I have only had to check once so far.

There has to be a way to program my phone so that it vibrates in a certain way if a certain number calls. That way, I would honestly know whether or not it was worth it to walk out of an exam. I don't like the idea of cheating either, since I know so many kids who do.

Exactly my point. I want to watch what's on the screen, not someone in front of me checking text messages.

The sight of the cell phone's screen is just as distracting to many people as the sound of it's ringing or it's owner talking. Movies are both visual and auditory.

But there really aren't any situations where it's not possible to turn the phone off. The situation you describe leaves you with three choices I can see: Turning it off, leaving it on and foregoing an activity, or leaving it on and potentially disturbing others. Turning it off and risking the loss of your job isn't a good option, which leaves you with not going to the movie on that particular night, or going and potentially disturbing others. If you choose to go to a movie and check your phone in the theater while in the line of sight of other patrons, you're lessening the enjoyment of those you distract because of your choice.

Grace is on call a couple of times a week, and she doesn't stay home, and, like you, carries a phone with her so she can be contacted easily and quickly. Being on call does, however restrict her from doing certain things, like drinking alcohol, or going out of town, even on her days off. If we're going out on one of her on-call days, we go out to dinner, or dancing, or play videogames or miniature golf or go shopping or one of any of a dozen other things that can be done where light and noise are a minimal disruption. lf there's a movie we want to see at the theater, we simply go on a night she's not on call, and do something else, like watch a dvd at home or any of the other things I mentioned.

But it is possible. Inconvenient in many cases, sure, but that's true of just about everything in life. It's inconvenient for me to have my cell phone off when I'm teaching a class, but I nonetheless leave it off. I check for messages during breaks or lunch, and return important calls then. I don't think I've ever, in my life received a call that was so urgent it couldn't wait until I had time to check messages.

If you can get the phone out of your pocket very quietly, check it and return it in about 3 seconds, I'd likely never notice. The disruption comes from the part which requires getting up and leaving class to take the call, which is a major distraction. Now you may be very, very adept at judging the importance of the call based on who is calling, but the person calling may not be quite so adept, and may be calling for a trivial reason. But lets grant that you're quite good at knowing when the call is important enough to disrupt class, and when it isn't. Not everyone is going to be that good at judging which calls are important. And, sadly, many would just plain lie because they want to take calls from friends. How am I to distiguish those who are perceptive about which calls are important, those who think they are, but have poor judgement, and the jerks who just don't care?

You sound like you have a very reasonable approach, and if all students were like this, it wouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately, there too many people who are inconsiderate or who cheat, or who just aren't careful not to be disruptive simply because they don't care. Rules meant to curb their behavior end up catching otherwise reasonable people in the net. [/QUOTE]

Great words, the whole thing. This part stuck out for me personally.

Been down this conversational road a million, trillion times. More, probably. I've sold cellular phones of every kind since '98, and have to this day. I started with analog and basic digital phones, and sold every new technological advance as they came about.

(following is not in response to anything, it is just an ordered list)
1. Yeah, I can live without my phone. Why would I? Landline phones are more expensive, for one, and I can't use it wherever I am. I enjoy the ability to communicate with people whenever I feel I need to, without having to find and feed a pay phone while I'm away from home.

2. If someone talks on or uses a cell phone in a distracting manner in a theater, they're getting a stern warning, getting yelled at, and then getting my foot in their ass. I find it incredibly rude and disrespectful, hands-down, and will get in the face of anyone who persists in doing so while I'm around. It is flatly inexcusable.

3. There are a million bad drivers. For every person that bitches about the evil cell phones ruining everyone's driving, I have the following to say: It's not the phone, it's the fact that it's a distraction. People demonize the damn things for no reason. Use a speaker or headset so you can better hold the wheel and concentrate if you're a poor driver to start with. For every person I see doing stupid things while on a cell phone, I see the same bad driving because a woman is applying makeup while driving, eating a burger, yelling at their kids, smacking their kids, paying more attention to their kids than the road for some other reason, and many others who just SUCK ASS at driving. I drive a lot, I see a lot, and it's not cell phones, it's any type of distraction.

4. I drive perfectly whether or not i'm making a call on my phone. I find it appalling that there are laws banning the use of the phone in the car. If you're going to make such a law, make it for distractions of a general nature. So NO MAKEUP (I see this constantly, drives me insane), no reading the newspaper (you may laugh, but I see it all the time), etc. People need to be held accountable for their poor driving habits, not because they're poor drivers who are too stupid to realize their already poor driving skills are being compounded by trying to do anything else but concentrate on the road.

5. If you're going to ban cell phones on the road, ban old people first. For every swerve I see here in Florida with a moron talking on their phone, I see 5 old people nearly running people off the road, running lights, going well under the speed limit, changing lanes on a whim without notice or regard for who might already be in the lane at the time... and the list goes on to infinity. If you really want to help make the roads safer, start testing old people with some regularity. As it stands now, you can get a driver's permit that's good for 8 years, and extend the permit out via mail, phone, or internet. So grannie can go legally blind and have palsy and still get behind the wheel, and they will keep reissuing that permit without so much as an eye exam. THAT is a problem.

I'll add this to the part about driving while talking: on a recent episode of Mythbusters, it was demonstrated that driving while having a cell phone conversation is actually MORE dangerous than driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.8, the legal limit in most states. The test drivers did worse on the driving tests while having complicated conversations than they did after several beers.

It wasn't the "hands on the wheel, eyes on the road" factor so much as the "concentration on the conversation" factor.

It is obvious that of the 3 scenarios described by Gilda, the first two are nice to observe proper manners. The 3rd one, however is critical life and death. I have been behind drivers who are weaving around their lanes, only to find that they are on the cell phone. yesterday, on the Danforth, traffic in both directions was abruptly halted by a self-centred idiot performing a 3 point turn (in heavy traffic) while chatting on his cell. to top it off, his passenger was sitting there doing nothing. She could have taken the call. But noooo, he had to use the phone himself. He performed this monoeuvre (which was illegal in this situation even without a cell phone, because he was obstructing traffic) very slowly and clumsily, using about 5 points to complete it.

As for kids using them in class: confiscate them. There is no need that is suddenly apparant in the past 10 years that requires families to contact students directly (during class or exams) this is what the school office and secretaries with message pads are for. The phone is just a toy or status symbol in this case, and we are building rational to wrongly justify its existence.

My job also required me to be oncall, and when I was scheduled to be on-call, I did not go to movies or bars, where I could be suddenly yanked out of participation. Being on call required a certain responsibility (which i was paid for) that I needed to maintain.

I think complaining about people sending or reading text messages in cinemas is going a bit too far. It takes a few seconds, or a few minutes to send a text message, but people don't hold them in the air to read or write them. Every cinema I've been in has that stadium-style seating and I've while I might notice a mobile phone screen every now and then it's never been a distraction at all. Maybe the guy in your cinema just happened to be seated in a bad position so that you could see his screen, but I don't think it's a big deal at all. Plenty of things in daily life are distracting, some are just no big deal. A ringing mobile phone is, of course, but I think etiquette is getting better about that.

As for phones in lectures, if it's on silent/vibrate then it's never bothered me if someone takes a call outside (as long as they don't start talking until they're out). People have to go to the bathroom, come or leave early to lectures, take calls for any number of reasons. As long as they're quiet and discreet about coming and going I don't think it's too big a deal. Kids in middle school shouldn't have phones on in class, but adults in a university lecture deserve more freedom than that.

Strange or annoying ringtones on the street have never bothered me, I like the diversity, it's interesting to see a gangsta-looking guy with an Aqua ringtone or a guy in a suit with the crazy frog one, or a pink, frilly girl with a normal digital tone. Sometimes I roll my eyes when hearing the crazy frog one or chuckle when I hear the theme from Frasier or Yakkety Sax... all just simple things that make every day more interesting :)

Of course the driving while using a phone without a hands-free kit, or putting on makeup or having a coffee is ridiculous. Most people I know, if they are called while driving they don't answer. If it's important or urgent then I'll call again... 2 missed calls within a few seconds generally means it's important.

I think that should be another rule - if it's just a social call and the person doesn't pick up, just call another time, or they'll call back if they have time. If it's important, call twice so they know to call back as soon as they can.

Edit: sorry, this is so disjointed :crazy:

I don't currently own a cell phone. I've had one in the past, but I've found it more of an annoyance than an asset. I carry a pager for work (always set on vibrate), for anyone else, the world won't come to an end if it takes an extra hour to find me. I'm in total agreement with the first 2 premises that Gilda makes, I'd modify the 3rd to read "Shut up and drive". I drive a motorcycle as my primary transportation during the summer. While motorcycles seem to be invisible to many cars, nearly all of the close calls that I have involve a moron on a cell phone that isn't paying attention.

I think this is a strongly age-differentiated argument, simply because of the technological newness of cell phones. For posters AND the general population in my age bracket, cell phones have always existed. Even the year I was born, there were those boxy car phones that couldn't operate outside of the car's battery. As such, they've always been there and always will be cell phones in our lives. I don't think I'll ever need a "landline" insomuch as I can be available no matter where I am for (easier AND cheaper).

Because of their omnipresence, it doesn’t even cross my mind when a cell phone rings or is answered. It, like others have said, is a distraction – but it is a distraction that I tune out, just like barking dogs and children crying. There are perfectly acceptable ways to use a cell phone, including in a car, and I think it would be brash to set that type of “standard” for people. Who decides how much of “a distraction” something is? If you had a song you really liked playing on the stereo, and you were listening intently to the lyrics… would you not have the same mental distraction as a cell phone? I realize it is a slippery slope, but this type of argument would mandate removing stereos from cars as well.

While I was typing this message, a coworker approached me and we were scheduling a meeting at 9:30 regarding documentation on one of our production CDs. In the course of talking, his cell phone rang in his pocket; he pulled it out and answered it. Under the antiquated etiquette of the older generation, this could be “rude.” For me, it meant turning around and continuing my work. One could argue that this was implicitly stating that the caller was more important than me, but this type of prioritizing happens in a work place, and it is not a cell phone specific argument.

As for movies, I think a RINGING phone is indeed inappropriate because it can severely distract from the movie. This is only the case because in silent or low-sound sections of the movie a ringing phone can fully drown out the soundtrack. As for the screen or text-messaging, this type of behavior is entirely appropriate. The average Pearlescent 15% movie screen is 30 FEET by 70 FEET. (<a href=” http://www.spudart.org/blogs/randomthoughts_comments/2827_0_3_0_C/”>source</a>) The average cell phone screen is 2 x 4 INCHES. While I wouldn’t have been “all up in” the old guys’ face, I certainly wouldn’t have appreciated being yelled at (easily a larger distraction) about having my cell phone open. Many cell phones necessitate opening them to view who is calling – and if that bothers someone then that is their problem, not mine.

In a classroom, I again agree that a ringing phone is distracting and inappropriate. A phone pulled from your pocket and viewed should not be a consideration at all. Oftentimes I pull my cell phone out of my pocket to see the time, as I do not wear a watch. This behavior in and of itself should be no more distracting then someone who looks at their wristwatch. I understand that someone answering a cell phone in class is distracting to everyone, but there are many times that it would be important other than a “husband with a pregnant wife..” that I think you may be unfairly excluding. If my “Home” calls, I can be sure that it’s a very critical issue, such as my father having a heart attack – and I’m you telling me I can’t answer the call would be replied with a few choice words.

Finally – driving. I see no problem driving with a cell phone, teenage-confidence or not. A car can be operated safely and effectively with a cell phone, and those who cannot have problems driving in other ways. If I remember correctly from your previous thread, you (Gilda) have a stricter sense of what is safe driving, and I think that may factor into your opinion here – more so then the phone itself.

On the converse, my reaction time on a track is .285 seconds. This is well within the norm for safe driving. A drunken driver can approach reaction times of nearly 2.0 seconds, but drivers over 80 often have that same reaction time merely based on their age.

I've had a cell phone since 1999 and I've always felt that a cell phone conversation shouldn't go on for more than 2 minutes. To me it's been a way of telling people where I'm going to be when, or where they should be when, because we need to co-ordinate. It's a redundancy. Now I have clients calling my cell phone number, so I've been forced into conversations on the bus etc.

I can only think of a few times where my cell phone was actually 'needed'. I guess I can do without. I just don't like to. It's a redundancy.

If I'm at the theatre, the phone is off. If it's important, they can leave a message. If I'm at school, I just don't get a signal. Some of my classmates do, and it's always "OMG MY BEST FRIEND CALLED I NEED TO ANSWER THE PHONE" or "OMG ITS MY BOYFRIEND AND HE JUST GOT OUT OF CLASS".

THAT drives me NUTS

I can't stand watching people use cell phones as regular phones. Like, when you're in a social situation and someone decides they'll talk to someone that isn't right there instead.

Exactly. A lot of us are adults with adult concerns--children, spouses, etc--that add up for emergencies. I keep my phone on me at all times and on vibrate regardless of where I am because it has proved useful in the past during family emergencies. And as Rlyss said, in a college lecture, it's just one of many things that can distract. I know during a long lecture (especially those summer term) I get up to go get a drink or stretch if the professor hasn't given us a break in a while. Besides, I've had profs who keep their cell phones handy for the same reasons I do. However, if you're text messaging someone in class and it's not a 300-person lecture in the auditorium...that's ridiculous.

As for the movie theater--when stuff like that happens repeatedly, that's when I go get an usher. Usually I preface it by saying this, "Someone is talking on their cell phone so much I can't enjoy the movie. I'd like my money back." Usually they'll deal with the culprit rather than giving you your money back. Yeah, it requires you to get out of your seat but it takes about as much time as going to the bathroom, and the person at fault feels completely chagrined because some teenage usher had to ask them to correct their behavior. There's a REASON why they say to turn off your cell phones and be quiet, people. Sometimes I think people fail to realize they're not alone in the world.

My biggest pet peeve, as someone who has worked in service industries, is when people approach a person they have to interact with in order to order something while still on their cell phone. You'd be amazed how many people try to conduct a conversation while also trying to conduct business with the deli counterperson, cashier, bartender, etc. It's incredibly annoying to have to figure out who the hell the person is talking to. It's even more confusing and annoying when they're using a handsfree unit. Ugh. If, for some reason, I must do the above (for instance, when I tell my mother goodbye she has about three more things of "absolute importance" she must say to me) I apologize to the person. This has only happened once.

I think the other problem here is that people feel that talking on their cell phone is their "right." I'm sorry but I don't believe you have a right to be rude without an excellent reason. The other problem here is that people have a hard time self-policing their behavior, and cell phone usage is one of those behaviors that requires practicing self-control of a sort. It requires you to be aware of others, your surroundings, and to be aware of what is polite and what is rude. Some people just don't want to exert that kind of effort. To me that means you shouldn't have a cell phone to begin with :)

Phones off in class, phones off in cinemas, phone on silent where possible, no phones while driving.
No damned crazy frog ringtone, if i hear the ringtone from your phone, i will personally delete the tone, reset your phone to factory settings and smack you in the face for making me take time out of my day to do that.

Yes, yes they do. And in stadium seating, it really doesn't matter what at what angle they are sitting in relation to you... you can pretty much see a bright blue screen from any seat behind the offending person. That's probably what happened in the situation Gilda described, and it happens all the time when I go to the movies here in NYC. I don't care if somebody wants to read a text message instead of getting their $10.25's worth of the movie. They just need to turn to the side and shield the light so that it reflects only into their seat and at their face. It's not hard to do.

ha ha, SC, your avi is teh funnay!

anway, enough noobness...

I hate my cell phone, largely because I married Martel. Martel is the most anti-phone guy I know- his cell phone is hardly ever even on, unless we are not together. So I've adopted his attitude and am pretty much laissez-faire about the whole thing.

I'll add one more rule to the list: NO "JAMMING" WITH YOUR FRIENDS TO YOUR STUPID RINGTONES!!! When I worked at the hospital, there were these three girls who worked in the cafeteria who would sit around, play their stupid little MIDI Rap-song ringtones, and booty dance. In front of all the families with loved ones hooked up to life support.

*sighz* (/sarcasm)

Note to Jinnkai, a very very nicely put together series of arguments. I have to agree with you that there is a generational aspect to the entire situation. And I agree that I can accept cell phone 'noise' similarly to the background noise of barking dogs, traffic, lawnmowers etc.

But where I diverge from your well stated perpective is the embracing of a new technology to excuse the same old bad manners. As Supple Cow states, yes, especially in stadium seating the bright pinpoint of light of a cell pone easily irritates even though average Pearlescent 15% movie screen is 30 FEET by 70 FEET. It's almost like haveing a laser pointed into your eyes. And yes, I have complained and asked for my money back in these situations.

i work in an IT environment, where desk meetings can get interrupted by pagers, cells, IMs, deskphones. In all cases if I get one of these, I ask permission from the "real live" human that I am meeting with if I can answer.

If I get displaced by a phone call, I leave, or if I am at store, and my service is interrupted, I interrupt back, either waving the attention of the clerk back to me, or appealing to the manager. Once a waiter answered his cell while dealing with my table. He lost his tip.

no excuse for bad manners, and we don't have to take it.

I'm so fucking sick of people bitching about mobile phones. Mr Self Destruct and Analog said it best here.

1. Teachers need to realize that the class they are teaching is not the most important thing in the student's lives. They paid for the class and can come and go as they please. If someone wants to answer the phone in class, fine, just say 'hold on a sec' and immediately go outside.

2. The old guy was being an ass. The kid wasn't making a call or anything. He just looked at his phone. Maybe he wanted to see what time it was. If a fucking 1"x1" screen distracts you from a giant fucking movie screen I don't want to know what you'll do if someone gets up to piss. God forbid someone next to you eats popcorn or slurps their drink!

3. This lady did the right thing. She got up and went to the tunnel. Ifthe sound of someone talking quietly at 40 feet away is more distracting than a 10,000 watt super sound system, stay home.

I call bullshit on the mythbusters thing. They did everything possible to make the drivers fail both tests. Time trials? Parallel parking (with a very small space)? Asking crazy questions? Accident avoidance that requires a split second lane change (without time to check the blind spot, of course)? Whatever. Most driving is simply going down a straight road at less than 50 mph. I can count on one hand the amount of times that I've had to change lanes like that.

1. uhuh. couldn't disagree more. May apply to lectures, for adults who have paid for their classes, in which case they should excercise proper manners. But it certainly does not apply to classes with teachers with kids, who, by the way have not paid for their classes.

2. you may have a point. but the tiny bright pin point of light was discussed earlier. drinking, going to the washroom is expected behaviour. there's a reason why ushers have flashlights with dimming red cones on them. Bright pin points of light in a darkened theatre is extremely irritating. the industry already knows this. Again, If he is checking the time, just figure that a movie lasts 2 hrs, that's where you decided to spend your time when you paid your ticket. Again manners is what is being discussed here (etiquette) why not observe them?

3. yes she did observe proper behaviour. yet it was still distracting (obviously) for those that were closest. Why not just step out into the lobby as that's what they are for? She started well, but fell short of observing appropriate ettiquette.


You know, manners are timeless. It demonstrates forebearance, good culture and observing that it isnt all about you. there is no excuse for boorish behaviour.

Looks like state legislators are doing something about this:

States Bar Teen Drivers Using Cell Phones

Looks like a good start to me, though I'd ban them in cars completely.

Ban radios, children, horns, sandals, makeup, and sunglasses from cars too. Because obviously those hamper our safe driving skills too.

It's a slippery slope.

It's about drivers education and awareness, not whats in the car. :|

it's about driver's concentration. Holding a conversation with somebody on a phone is more difficult sans body language than with a passenger. It also consumes more of the driver's attention than a pair a of sunglasses on your face or sandals on your feet. Listening to the radio is passive. They've been in cars for decades without any real controversy.

There's no real slippery slope. Cell phone use in a car is prolonged distraction. I say common sense should prevail, not paranoia.

I don't care.

I used to care. I don't so much now.

I don't care if people talk on cell phones, I don't care if they're on them 24 hours a day 365 days a year. 50 years from now when they're all dying from some rare sort of brain cancer (which you just know is going to happen, right?), I won't care too much then.

All I ask...all any of us ask, really, is that those with cell phones use a little bit of common sense and be a bit more polite. If you absolutely have to call your pal to discuss the results of your latest prostate exam, please wait until you get to your car, or at the very least, in the open air, not right outside the doctor's office while waiting in a crowd for an elevator. You wouldn't yell at the top of your lungs at someone next to you in a restaurant, why is okay when that someone is on the other end of your obscenely cheap ass flip phone?

In the movies, I really don't care either. Don't have a conversation. Don't talk over the movie. Don't crack stupid jokes with a friend in a theater over while the movie is on and everything will be fine. Your little pissant 1x1 screen isn't going to detract from my movie going experience. I've spent a lot of time around annoying little children, I can tune almost anything out. In fact, as long as you make no noise, I would almost prefer you to text each other rather than talk. Even if your right next to each other.

As for class...While it's true that you are paying for the class, the fact is so is everybody else. And everybody else's enjoyment of the class goes down considerably while you waddle down the aisle, waving your butt in everyone's face as you try to manuever you, your books, your phone, your purse/manbag/backpack out of the room all while your phone is stuck repeating the chorus to Ludacris' "Hey Ya" at maximum volume. If you can quietly leave the room like an adult, you should be treated like an adult. If you can't, then you shouldn't.

Personally, I don't have a cell phone. I'm at work or I'm at home. On the rare occasion someone can't get me, then I must be out and probably didn't want to talk to you anyway.

Gilda, I have to agree with you on all points, and onesnowyowl on the service industry thing. When I was a cashier, I used to get so pissed off when someone would come up to pay for something while on their phone.

As far as driving is concerned, I have witnessed many near accidents due to phones, but just as many due to old people on the road, as analog mentioned. This is a problem that is related to driving itself, not just to cell phone usage. Too many people have licenses who shouldn't, and it's too easy for horrible drivers to renew them.

Basically, it all boils down to the idea that there are plenty of people out there who are all about number one and who gives a damn about others...manners really seem to have gone out the window.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Thanks for that hilarious visual, it really cracked me up.

It was "proven" in the 70s and 80s that radios made drivers far more likely to have an accident than those who did not, as well as decreasing the likelihood of response to emergency vechicles (can't hear them). Your argument that radios are passive is a good one, but phones are as well. You can just as easily stop listening to a phone as you can a radio in an emergency situtation. Its about the driver, NOT the device. Banning them will solve nothing (other than padding local municipalities budget).

Yes it is about the driver. But, no, the phone is not passive. that's my point. A phone conversation engages you to such an extent, that your concentration is even more active and involved than if you were chatting to somebody sitting beside you. My uneducated guess is this is because more concentration is required to deliver/receive a message when there is no (even periphally obvserved) body language accompanying it.

I like what gothmund has to say about it. But one of Gilda's main points did not deal with adults and their childish behaviour, but with children (grade 7, 8, and high school) with cell phone in class!!! I know that in my nephew's (grade 10) school, the policy is to confiscate, even in hallways, and to release them to the guardian/parent when they show up for an appointment.

My complaints were not about cell phones, but about their being used in a place or manner in which doing so is impolite or dangerous. It isn't about the phone, but it's manner of use.

When you sign up for a class, you are making a commitment to make that class first priority during the time for which it is scheduled. You are further agreeing to abide by the policies of the University and that particular instructor. If you cannot be there and devote that time to that purpose, and follow the rules, you shouldn't be in that class. If you find a "no cell phones in class" policy unduly interferes with your life, the solution is simple: Don't take that class.

Another poster said basically the same thing, that the cell phone screen is so small it shouldn't be a distraction. Perhaps it shouldn't be a distraction, and maybe it isn't for you, but it nonetheless is a big distraction for many others. Having a conversation during the movie is also something many people do as if they were in their living rooms, and they apparently don't think it should be a distraction to others, and because they think it shouldn't be, they don't care that it is. A movie's soundtrack is quite loud sometimes, but that does not prevent talking fromm being an unnecessary distraction. The same goes for the movie screen as compared to the cell phone screen.

The movie screen and the soundtrack aren't a distraction. They are the reason people are in the theater in the first place. If a conversation or cell phone screen diverts a person's attention from what they are there to see and hear, it is a distraction. Disrupting someone elses activities unnecessarily to attend to your personal business is rude.

This is the same policy as in the middle school where I teach (grades 6-8). I cannot coneive of a scenario in which the immediate intervention of an eleven year old would be of such importance that the time delay required to call the office and have a message delivered would be disastrous. I can't really concieve of any legitimate use a 6-8th grader might have for a cell phone in class.

But so is expecting everyone to conform to what some people call distracting.

The thing is that it's not that simple. First of all, teachers' policies are not posted with the class schedules. Therefore it is impossible to know if you are going to end up with some god complex teacher with asinine requirements and includes trivial matters like attendance into your grade. Additionally, there are plenty of situations where there are classes a student needs that are only taught by one professor. Gee, I guess I should change my major then?

A good teacher can teach the subject despite class members showing up late, leaving early, sleeping, or leaving temporarily to take a call. You don't know what that call is about so who are you to judge the importance of that call?

Actually, that's just called manners, etiquette, etc. Is being polite in a movie theater too much to ask? Trust me, if we were in the same movie theater, and you were causing a disturbance such as that guy did or that lady did, you would be the one being asked to leave, not me. Why? Because I KNOW better than to cause a distraction or what someone else might perceive as a distraction during a movie.

As for class, I don't know about your university, but at mine we have a week after class begins to change our schedules around. If you don't like the rules a prof has about cell phones, don't take their class. Otherwise you just have to suck it up, grin, and bear it. Personally, if a teacher wants me to have mine off, it's off. I do prefer to have it on, but it's no big deal if I can't have it on. I paid good money for that class so I should maximize my learning opportunity. However, instructors should realize distractions of all kinds happen--but it is in the best interest of themselves and their students to minimize those distractions as much as possible for the sake of creating a genuine learning environment.

I'm definitely one in the "don't take any of my goddamn rights away" crowd, and inexplicably enough I attach this as one of my rights. Not "all Americans shall be granted with the right to bear cell phones" but the right to communicate whenever and however I wish. It is my right to do what I want (within other pertaining laws), and while I certainly bend to make as many people comfortable as possible there is a point where you draw a line. If someone bent their words and behaviors to make EVERYONE comfortable, then they would be a pushover. They'd have no money, no possessions, and likely no life -- as they'd have given it over to anyone who gave them a good reason. I draw the line at driving with my cell phone and viewing that "oh so bright" LCD screen in a movie theatre; it might bother you but I think you're being overzealous. I know im capable of driving within the safe limits of the law while talking on a cell phone, and I reserve that right. I will certainly deign that TALKING is commonly considered rude, and not do that. Likewise, I will deign that most occasions do not mandate leaving the classroom to answer a phone call. These are fostered out of respect for others and a general consideration. But I won't hesitate to answer and take a phone call outside once my need to take the call becomes more important than 18 people who might be momentarily distracted by my movement.

Before the movie starts it asks you to turn off cell phones and pagers. So the problem is:
a) The person with the cell phone can't read.
b) the person with the cell phone came in after the movie started (another pet-peeve)
c) The person that owns the cell phones figures the rule don't apply to them.

I'm guessing c

Which would also carry over to the classroom. It isn't simply a matter of the teacher teaching, but of disrupting your fellow students and wasting (stealing) their time. I have no problem with setting your phone to vibrate, sitting near the door, and discretely walking out to take a call. Anything else is deciding that your convenience(time) is more important than everyone elses.

If I had a dollar for every time some @$$ in my college class didn't bother to TURN OFF their stupid cell phone ringer, I wouldn't be $27K in debt with college loans right now.

Seriously. When I'm a professor you'd better turn off your damn microchip implant (or whatever we have that replaces the cell phone) or I will reserve the right to lower your final grade by one point every time your phone rings.

First, attendance is trivial? Are you actually saying that attending a class is a trivial matter in the learning process? I am amazed.

Second, policies are routinely discussed first thing at the first class period. If you disagree with the policies, you are free to drop the class. You call it a god complex, I call it expecting good manners.

A good teacher also minimizes distractions so that the students who are tardy, leaving early, sleeping, or taking phone calls don't disrupt the learning process for those who are punctual and attentive. Students taking a call in class are deciding that their phone call is more important that the class not just for themselves, but for every person in the class.

Compared to doing the reading, completing assignments, and doing projects? Yes, it's trivial. I got A's in plenty of classes where I only showed up to take exams and turn in assignments.

You can always get notes from friends if you really need them. I am the one accountable for my grade. If I feel I am understanding things well and can miss a class here and there, but still perform well on the exam my ego-driven professor shouldn't change my grade because of it.

Refer to what I said about times when there is one class offerred and its required. Also, I took great care in selecting the schedule that works around my personal and work live. I couldn't go dropping classes because the professor has moronic policies.

The 'learning process' is grossly overrated. Life is full of distractions. A hot girl with a low cut shirt can distract me a hell of a lot more than a couple people shuffling around. If someone can't tune those out they have bigger problems.

That works until the day the hold on isn't fast enough and you end up in someone's side or in a ditch. Operating like that you statistically have the reaction time of a legally drunk person. You'll see after a few more years behind the wheel. The odds just increase as you go along.

I can understand not drinking or going to bars, etc. because technically you were at work. However, not going to public places and denying yourself activities just because you're scared that your phone is going to ring and you might offend someone is just silly. If you're in the context of a social situation that doesn't involve anything to do with your job and everyone is there to enjoy leisure time then I think it should be expected that a phone will ring. It's what the person does with it that makes it inconsiderate and rude for everyone else.

Alright, so we've established that kutulu and Gilda don't agree.

Anywho, I think this whole thing can be summed up by how much of a "noticer of your life infringing on other people's lives" you are. If you really don't notice that half of Barnes and Noble just heard that "she's dying of terminal cancer" (actual overheard cell phone conversation) then perhaps you're just an idiot. If you notice and don't care, then you probably don't care about sharing your life with everyone else. However, pedophiles share their lives with everyone else when they molest children- it doesn't make it right. (note- I'm not stupid enough to sanely compare your loud, annoying cell phone conversation with pedophelia, duh).

I, for one, will be turning my cell phone off. If you are one of the ones that don't, well, don't take any of Gilda's classes. Or mine.

The instructor is also accountable for the grades she gives. In-class discussion is one of the required elements of my classes. In-class assignments are also required elements. Taking notes is also a required element. You cannot participate in discussion or do in-class assignments or take notes if you are not present.

Sure, you can get notes from another student. When you do this, the student who was in class taking notes has done that part of your work for you, and it is perfectly fair to take this into account when determining a student's grade.

Some instructors are lecture and test, and couldn't care less whether students attend. That method of instruction, though not the most effective, is one that works well for them. It is not, however, one that works well for every instructor or every class. The fact that you dislike a grading policy is does not invalidate it. And this being a University, you are always free not to take a class whose policies you disagree with.

Sure you can. Unless your schedule chosen for you, you have the choice to take the class or not to take the class. Having only one class available taught by an instructor whose policies you disagree with makes the decision more difficult, but it does not change the fact that you are free to take or not to take the course as you see fit.

If the distractions don't exist in the first place, there is no need to tune them out. That you can tune them out easily does not mean that others are the same.

Most times the truth is more funny than the lie.... ;)

That was no exception, sad to say.

You know, as long as people in movie theaters don't talk on their phones in the theater during the movie, I don't have a problem with the brief flash of light their screen might make. While it may be a slight irritation, life's too short to get all worked up about another light that goes on while watching a movie. If its a good movie, I'll be so ingrossed in watching it anyway, chances are I won't even notice.

I think students who leave their cell phones on during class are simply being disrespectful to their teachers and fellow students. Now, if you're talking about a lecture, with 100+ students, and a student has his or her phone on vibrate or silent, and they receive an important call, as long as they can leave the room without causing much of a disturbance, I feel that this is ok. And if a student forgets every once in a while to turn off the ringer, but as soon as it goes off, turns off the phone, this shouldn't be a problem either. We have to be reasonable here-people occasionally forget things. And cell phones are particularly easy to forget about, especially for people who use theirs regularly, because they simply take them for granted, and may occasionally forget to turn them off. But, people who actually take calls during class, in class, are just being rude, and there's really no excuse for that.

I definitely think that talking on cell phones while driving should be illegal unless you're using some sort of hands-free device, whether a headset or speakerphone. While there's probably somebody out there who can drive just as well while speaking on their phone as when they are not, the vast majority of people out there cannot. Someone mentioned earlier that they can count the number of times they have needed to make any sort of drastic maneuver while driving on one hand-same here, but if I had been talking on my phone the one time that I had to swerve sharply, I wouldn't have been able to drop it in time to get both hands on the wheel, and would have ended up halfway into the car in front of me. There are enough bad drivers already, they don't need anything else to distract them. Personally, I think they should just stop making automatic transmissions-its rather difficult to steer, shift, and hold a phone at the same time. And it would probably cut down on the number of SUVs out there, too... but I'm not going to go into that anymore. That's a different rant.

Just curious. I've heard this before, that a stick shift is safer for a variety of reasons. It doesn't seem logical to me. The driver of a stick shift has three additional things to do--manage the clutch, manually shift gears, and keep track of rpm's--that the driver of an automatic does not. An automatic transmission eliminates these things that might divert a driver's attention from the road. Is there any evidence one way or the other that one type of transmission is safer than the other? Has a study been done?

How about clutchless manual shift? My car and my wife's car both have this (she says it's not a real manual because it has no clutch and a rev limiter).

In any case, I've seen people with phones balanced on their shoulders and propped against their cheeks while driving. I don't think it would eliminate cell phone driving.

Hehe...I drive a manual and talk on my cell phone at the same time (not often), so I don't think having all cars as manuals is going to change anything.

I wouldn't say manuals are safer, Gilda, but they DO cause you to be far more aware of your car than you otherwise would be. I only drove an automatic for a very long time because I'm left-handed, and supposedly lefties don't do well with manuals. What a load of crap. As for the clutch/shift/RPMs business--after practice, those things become natural--you learn to listen to your car to tell you when to shift versus looking at the tachometer or shift light, you learn how to shift so smoothly and work the clutch just right so that even your friends' cars don't phase you. It all takes practice though--an example: I learned stick via being taught and practicing the clutch/shift business before hitting the open road. My best guy friend taught himself by driving on public streets. Which of us stalls the car more often? He does. Who grinds the gears? He does. With a capable teacher, you are capable of learning anything, and it's really far easier than you think. Give it a try sometime. :)

/threadjack

Holy crap. I can't believe that people are so adament about being able to be accessible every second of the day that not having the phone on for a limited amount of time is such a big deal. I was thinking the other day that it would be nice to have a portable device that would knock out the signals over a hundred square yard area or something. Come in to class / theatre / whatever, set it up , and turn it on.

Hey use your cell phones all you want... Oh crap, you can't get a signal. Guess that sucks. Now sit down and shut up.

What you said pigglet. 100%. when did it become so important? when did we develop such a colossal cosmic ego that we all had to be 100% available 24/7???? talk about stress. Or is it just stylin? some people just pull out their phones so that they can be seen with the latest/smallest...

DING DING DING!!! There be the answer... :)

My company offers support for our customers 24/7 - I have to carry a cell phone, occassionally I've gotten calls at 3am when a database has gone south, but those are rare...

I hate talking on the phone, and unless it's a customer wiht a problem the call will rarely last more than a few minutes, so people tend ot not call me... :( What kills me when I am out and about, is where people think it's OK to use a cell phone. I've been in airport restrooms and the person in the next stall is doing their business, including flushing and hand washing, all the while talking on the phone - -Was the call that important? Now if it were me on theother end of the phone, I would ahve hung up... I have heard people on the plane as we are waiting ... at 5:30 in the am, talking on the phone... about their sex lives.. . sorry, your sex life at this hour is not interesting to anyone...

If people could talk at reasonable volumes, where their conversations don't intrude on my space (because it is all about me, after all) then I don't care what they do, it's the people who talk so loudly and are completely oblivious to the looks they are getting, and where they are having conversations that cheeses me off and makes me wonder about where simple manners have gone.

There is absolutely no need for people to be on a mobile in a movie theatre...and the same goes for class rooms.

Before we had mobiles we would have had to wait until we returned home until we could pick up a message... with a mobile all you have to do is wait until the end of the class or the end of the movie.

With all due respect, the only thing that is really that urgent is if someone has died and the chances of that happening are so remote that it isn't worth checking your bloody phone and disrupting the class (and this means not only your prof and fellow students but you).

Before anyone gets the wrong impression, I like my mobile phone. When I am abroad I can keep in touch with my wife, my office, my colleagues who are there with me via SMS at very affordable prices.

I can make a quick call from the airport before I take off to say goodbye and I love you to my kids... the list goes on.

There are also times where I will not answer my phone and those are mostly when I am having a face to face with someone. If I am in a meeting or speaking to a colleague I will silence my phone and call the person back when I am done. If it is urgent the caller will leave a message or wait until I call back.

It is just plain rude to be checking your phone in a movie theatre (unless you happen to have noone sitting either beside or behind you)... it is even more rude to do this in a classroom setting and I'm astounded that anyone would even consider doing it.

Manners *are* important.

This was an old article from InfoWorld that is worth reading

The 10 Commandments of cell Phone Etiquette

Ten Commandments of cell phone etiquette, with amendments to follow:

1. Thou shalt not subject defenseless others to cell phone conversations. When people cannot escape the banality of your conversation, such as on the bus, in a cab, on a grounded airplane, or at the dinner table, you should spare them. People around you should have the option of not listening. If they don't, you shouldn't be babbling.

2. Thou shalt not set thy ringer to play La Cucaracha every time thy phone rings. Or Beethoven's Fifth, or the Bee Gees, or any other annoying melody. Is it not enough that phones go off every other second? Now we have to listen to synthesized nonsense?

3. Thou shalt turn thy cell phone off during public performances. I'm not even sure this one needs to be said, but given the repeated violations of this heretofore unwritten law, I felt compelled to include it.

4. Thou shalt not wear more than two wireless devices on thy belt. This hasn't become a big problem yet. But with plenty of techno-jockeys sporting pagers and phones, Batman-esque utility belts are sure to follow. Let's nip this one in the bud.

5. Thou shalt not dial while driving. In all seriousness, this madness has to stop. There are enough people in the world who have problems mastering vehicles and phones individually. Put them together and we have a serious health hazard on our hands.

6. Thou shalt not wear thy earpiece when thou art not on thy phone. This is not unlike being on the phone and carrying on another conversation with someone who is physically in your presence. No one knows if you are here or there. Very disturbing.

7. Thou shalt not speak louder on thy cell phone than thou would on any other phone. These things have incredibly sensitive microphones, and it's gotten to the point where I can tell if someone is calling me from a cell because of the way they are talking, not how it sounds. If your signal cuts out, speaking louder won't help, unless the person is actually within earshot.

8. Thou shalt not grow too attached to thy cell phone. For obvious reasons, a dependency on constant communication is not healthy. At work, go nuts. At home, give it a rest.

9. Thou shalt not attempt to impress with thy cell phone. Not only is using a cell phone no longer impressive in any way (unless it's one of those really cool new phones with the space age design), when it is used for that reason, said user can be immediately identified as a neophyte and a poseur.

10. Thou shalt not slam thy cell phone down on a restaurant table just in case it rings. This is not the Old West, and you are not a gunslinger sitting down to a game of poker in the saloon. Could you please be a little less conspicuous? If it rings, you'll hear it just as well if it's in your coat pocket or clipped on your belt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pretty good rules

I totally agree people should not USE the phone somewhere like a theater. I will turn off all the sound my phone can make, but I will not shut the phone off if I am at a movie without my daughter. If I get a text or a ring (silent/vibrate) I will get up and go in the lobby to deal with it. But there is no way I will sit unreachable for 2 +/- hours if Manda is somewhere else.

They have cell phone jammers now. Very popular in restaurants, churches and movie theaters. BUT, for some reason, they are illegal in the fascist United States of America. One side effect, the Israeli Army uses them to jam "cell phone" signals from detonating IEDs (improvised Explosive Devices). They come in all different sizes and ranges.

You can get a 30 foot range unit about the size of a cell phone for about a $100-200.

Hubgiant - WAC 1000 Personal Jammer ($169)

Netline - Special Electronics Security Product - SH-066 PLZA ($279)

Welcome to peace and quiet

I should add....that I keep the phone under my leg so I can feel it vibrate and the light doesnt bother anyone.

Hell yes. I don't even have a land-line, cell phone all the way. I just become rapidly annoyed by the fact that every person I see on the street, in restaurants, etc - constantly has to talk to someone. Anyone. Just constant talky talky. And those are times when it's not really rude, just annoying. Even worse during a public performance or during a meal or a class.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the constant communication. I'm certainly not trying to change anyone mind about it, if they're the type that loves to be on the phone, or if not the phone then IM, or if not the phone or IM watching TV, or fuck I don't know what else. But I would really appreciate it if all that crap would drop off when I'm paying to watch something specific in a shared public venue.

For the theatre example, how would those people who say it's not annoying for the phone screen to constantly be flipping open feel about someone carrying in a small TV and watching it with earphones? I'll admit I don't own a TV, and I rarely go to movies. However, when I watch TV, I watch TV. Same with movies. If I'm going to talk to my friends or whatever, I'll go elsewhere. I'm in the theatre for the sole express purpose of watching the movie. All of your other crap gets in the way of my experience. Same goes for the classrooms. Can't people just focus for a short period of time?

/end little rant

edit for clarification, i have no problem with the phone on silent, or quick little checks in a considerate fashion. there are ways to manage mobile communication so that everyone around you isn't bothered. i refuse to believe that people can sneak alchohol, drugs, oral sex etc in theatres / public venues, but can't be sneaky with a phone.

My brother pointed this out, and I agree: It's really annoying to see and hear people trying out all their new ringtones, as if their phone is the coolest phone ever (even though over a hundred other people have one with the same ringtones)...who cares?

Actually, you can make quite a game out of it..I was bored one night on the train from DC to NY and decided to have some fun to amuse myself. (the car I was in had a lot of self-important pretentious windbags (I am most certainly not one, I am much to evil for that0...

Every 10 minutes or so, I would test a ring tone on my phone... and watch how many people grabbed for their phones, naturally assuming that any phone ringing was their phone... Doesn't matter that one time it was the Nokia ring, and the next time it was Take Me out to the Ballgame.. Every time I'd hit the ringer button, no less than 12 people grabbed for their phones.. Pavlov's dog anyone?

It kept me amused for a good 45 minutes, then I got bored of my toys...

That's because you're evil ;)

Too many assholes out there with cellphones. I do hope that they do find correlations between wattage and brain tumors, because all those chatty cathys and bombastic bobs will just be thinned out via natural selection.

Just because you have 1000 anytime minutes does not give you the RIGHT to use it for 1000 minutes anytime you want.

I just got out of jury duty and it was nice to see that Judges DO NOT LIKE CELLPHONES in their courtrooms. They will publicly embarass you and confiscate your phone, to get it back? You have to fall in line with the rest of the people that had to surrender their camera phones at security, a rather long line and additional time one has to stay at the courthouse.

This reminds me of a discussion we had with some of Grace's friends once. They were over for dinner, and the phone (home phone) rang. We ignored it and just let the voicemail pick it up. They were apalled. How can you just let you phone ring and not answer it? Well, like that, we explained. The fact that the phone is ringing creates no obligation on my part to answer it. If we're having dinner, or watching a dvd, or playing an online game, or doing anything else that takes precedence over a random phone conversation, we just don't answer the phone, and return the calls of those people we wish to speak to at our convenience.

We don't even have a phone in our bedroom because we don't like being disturbed while sleeping or making love. The only exception is if Grace is on call, she'll keep her pager or cell phone in there, but that's usually not a concern. I'm constantly a little surprised that people don't realize that you can just let the phone ring and not answer it.

I agree with the rules stated so far.

As for the one with students in class. I've heard people complain that there might be an family emergency or something. There is such a thing as a land line and parents should be able to call the school office and get the message to the student that way. Otherwise if I were a student and I knew a family member was in the hospital doing poorly and I needed to be able to leave ASAP when I got a call I would be courteous enough to alert my teacher prior to class and still leave my phone on vibrate in my jacket or on my pants. There is no reason to disturb others.

I'd like to add another rule. If you are on a cell phone in a social situation, even on the bus, and someone approaches you about being a disturbance. Apologize and either talk quieter or call the person back depending on the urgency of the call. NO matter what make the calls SHORT in public.

I have seen way to many poor drivers (including my Dad) who talk on the phone while driving and drive even worse. It's impossible to tell who could "handle" it and who couldn't. Just don't do it. At LEAST not without a headset? and don't dial or (for goodness sake) text message while driving. That's stupid.

Sorry but extending things to buses and public places and such is petty bitching. I guess we should all just sit there facing forward with our hands on our laps and not say a word. Fuck that. It's boring to sit on a bus and if I had to be subjected to the bus system I'd be on that phone passing time.

Want to know whats wrong with the country? A thread about phone annoyances gets 70+ responses in a day.

actually, let's put what you said in more context....

you're right, you say it's bad enough to be sujected to the bus system...

I'm subject to it everyday, going to the subway and back home from the subway. Have you ever been on a subway that goes underground and above ground? Underground it's quite quiet, with the occassional animated loud converstation or busker. Once it goes above ground, everyone flips open their cellphones to just shoot the shit and pass the time. Again, no issue if it's within the confines of yourself, but it's not, people subject others to their grocery lists, errands, which kid is being bad, which boyfriends called, which girl is a bitch, and the rest of the trivialities of life that encompass these phone calls.

On top of the bad enough that I have to take the bus, I also have to listen to Chatty Cathy discuss how Boy A didn't do this or that, or Mommy calling home to say she's finally on the bus, which to me is equal the inane call after landing on a plane,"We landed"

If they were talking in low tones, I'd agree with you even more, but carrying on like they would in their own living room is unacceptable to me, just as LOUD STEREOS are unacceptable to other drivers.

and if you think that 70+ replies on a thread is what's wrong with this country, I'm going to say flat out, the real problem is today's people think more about themselves than they do about the community around them.

I personally think call-screening is one of the best things to come out of answering machines / voice mail.

and kutulu: i think the interesting thing about this thread is the commentary on general manners and possibly the role of instant communication in our lives, not so much the cell phone specifics. No?

edit: from my perspective, the aspects of this discussion about simple (potentially) annoying public use of cell phone is an case where I think someone should be completely free to do something, I just wish they would choose not to.

I think call screening is rude as hell. I hate it when I call someone and then as I'm leaving a message for them they pick up. I guess this time I was important enough to talk to?

pigglet:

Maybe to you but I see it as a commentary on how people care way too much about what other people are up to. Seriously, people are now complaining about people on the phone while riding the subway/bus!!!

How is a phone call so different than hearing two people talk? You don't get to listen to both sides of the conversation?

then it's damn good we interact on the boards, because you would hate my phone policy :) I pretty much never answer my phone. But I'll call back a minute later. I do it to my best friends. They do it to me. We love it.

well, it isn't. i also find it a little annoying when two people next to me in [enter public area] and are talking like they are the only two people there. when i was way-back in school, they used to talk about the old "twelve inch voice" and i think stuck with me. frankly, i don't personally want a bunch of strangers hearing what i say to my friends, so i keep low myself regardless of questions of ettiquette. i don't really care if they're on a phone, talking to another person, or talking to themselves - i just wish they'd keep it where i can't hear. same for the phone. a low phone voice in a subway-type public area = pigglet doesn't care.

First, what I was describing wasn't call screening. We weren't screening the calls, we were ignoring them. When doing an activity that we don't wish to have interrupted, we turn off the speaker entirely, and check messages at our convenience. If the person calling has something we need to know, they can tell the machine.

When we are taking calls, it's 100% with call screening. If I think your call is important enough to take, I'll pick up or call back. I don't see how that's rude. Your desire to talk to me creates on my part no obligation to talk to you whenever you desire. Most of the calls we get on our home phone are from telemarketers anyway.

pigglet: Love the avatar. Better Than Chocolate is a favorite movie of ours.

It isn't, that's EQUALLY rude and people do pipe up about it when on some of the longer commutes.

People do not speak at the same volume on the cellphone that they do in person, maybe you and I do, but more often than not, people are loud on cellphones.

and do you like when people just knock on your door unannounced? Some people equal that intrusion to phone calls. My father hated when people called between 7-8pm on weekdays, that was dinner time, our friends all knew it.

What exactly gives you the right to dial 10 numbers on a telephone and demand my immediate attention? I screen all my calls, I return the ones that I deem worthwhile (not many are).

So basically what you are saying is that people should just sit and stare at the wall and do nothing that generates any noise because a subway is like a library?

Look, if you sleep 8 hours and work 9, that give 7 hours per day of free time during the week. Add in a 1 hour commute each way (not unreasonable) and that means that people spend 28% of their 'free time' commuting. Phones are a way for people to make the best of that 28% of their life that gets sucked away via commuting. I am NOT going to chastise people for that.

You are free to buy a car or get a cab if you don't like it.

I see you like to read into what I said to blanket EVERY sound. I did not say that at all.

People don't need to be loud and boisterous to have a conversation, in person or on the phone. You aren't allowed to play a boombox on the subway and you can be cited even if the sound leaks too much out of your headphones. I'm not asking for silence, just consideration. I or another passenger may be reading a book, concentrating on something else, having our own quiet conversation.

I do own a car, and that means then I have to be even more careful of drivers who are talking while driving.

And even when I'm in a cab, the cab driver is also chatting on the cellphone. I've complained to TLC here in NYC as cabbies are NOT SUPPOSED to be on the phone when driving passengers.

Hmm...this has led me to an interesting question. I wonder how many of us do screen our calls and for what reasons.

I think for us to have a truly well functioning society we must have some element of manners, politeness, and consideration that plays into our actions. Using a cell phone on a subway or a bus is just another example. I would never dream of subjecting people to my conversation in an enclosed space. I know I have a tendency to forget how loud I am (in conversation and on the phone) and so I usually refrain from speaking in that kind of space. That's just polite behavior. I don't know how your momma raised you all, but my momma raised me to consider others when choosing a mode of behavior, regardless of what I see as my "right."

What I'm trying to say is that being considerate goes both ways. I think it's just as rude to get worked up about what other people are doing.

little threadjack-aside: I've...ummm...actually never seen it. What you see is the result of a random GIS. I can't even remember what I was looking for. I just liked the picture.

/end threadjack.
/end airhead moment

I have an easy solution to the cell phones in cars problem. Stop giving licenses to every idiot with a pulse. Make people actually master real driving skills. Take them out on a race track with gravel pits on the side and let them see what an emergency lane change at 85mph feels like. Take them on a highway for the driving test during heavy but fast traffic and see fi they can keep a cool head. I had to drive around the block in a suburban neighborhood plus one main road with almost no traffic for my driver's license test, and I didn't even have to back into the parking space. I learned the rest of the shit because my parents taught me how to do it. I figured out how to handle emergencies at high speeds by practicing control in empty parking lots. If we make people use real-world skills when they take the test, the idiots will be weeded out, and the rest of us can be left to maneuver around 35 of them crammed into a nice, easy-to-avoid city bus.

You realize, of course, that the number of accidents caused by nervous 15 year olds ramming the everloving shit out of people in rush hour traffic would go through the roof? I salute the spirit of what you're saying, but I don't think anyone would ever consider the career of "Driving Instructor" ever again. I mean, it's got to suck ass already...now you're adding a mortality rate of > 75% to it? ;)

As folks get more fed up with cell phone useage, personal jammers like these little gismo's sales may pick up. :)
Cellular Mobile Phone Jammer
http://www.phonejammer.com/mini-phonejammer%201.jpg

I understand some restaurants,theatres and hotels are using large jammers now.

It would seem to me that as phone jammers became more and more popular. Something would be done/made to prevent them from working.


A phone jammer jammer if you will :lol:

It'll be just like radar detectors. Phones will be specially made to use different wavelengths for broadcast, or different types of frequencies to cut the jamming...etc. Tom Petty will be featured on the commercials. It'll be great.

FYI: The reason cell phone jammers are illegal in most of the US is because the jammers jam a broad band of frequencies, including those used by police, fire, and ambulance services. The concern is that emergency responders won't be able to use their communications equipment when somewhere that a jammer is being used, or at the scene of an emergency. Grace might be hampered in being able to do her job if she couldn't communicate with the doctors at the hospital where she is going to be delivering a patient.

However, I think there is a clear solution: Post quite clearly that phone jammers are in operation in a certain place, and those emergency personnel who are on call can avoid those places. If an emergency responder is on site, turn it off.

What would be nice would be passive jamming, like something that is built into the walls of the theater that blocks signals within the theater, but has no effect outside. It would solve all of the problems listed above.

what would be nice would be if everyone would just do it my way :)

Those are good points. I'm sure they'll keep tinkering with the technology that will allow more sophisticated or accurate functions. Like only jamming "civilian" cell phones and not emergency stuff. Plus, I think cell phone jamming is mostly used inside churches, theaters, classrooms, and restaurants, not neccessarily by people randomly pointing them at emergency vehicles.

So far I haven't heard of any of those problems in the countries where they are allowed. It could be our government is protective of the airwaves (not necessarily a bad thing). We'll see.

In a perfect world, it'd be done my way ;) but I'll settle for your way to.. I'm just feeling cooperative tonite...

I have a new rant to add - -coming back tonite on the train from DC - Amtrak a few years ago - at customer request -- rather demands - instituted a quiet car... the rules of the quiet car are simple, no loud conversations, no loud electronics, NO CELL PHONES... You want to use a cell phone, go to another car... the cars are all the same just the quiet car is just quiet... It's worked for years...

there was this woman tonite in the quiet car.. with no less than 2 cell phones that she never stopped talking on for the entire 30 minutes she was in the car before she was tossed out onto the tracks... I heard her say to the conductor as she hit the third rail.... that she didn't think the rule applied to her because she didn't think she was talking that loudly... (Judging by her accent, she could have been heard clearly in Queens from Baltimore)

Be considerate of others is all I ask... Pretty please...

I guess those of us carrying these little jammers around could wear a button with a picture of a cell phone with a line through it. "No cell phones within 50 feet." :)