Whatever did we do before cell phones? (rant)

[guihong]

...I can tell you one thing, I think we annoyed one another a lot less.

Take earlier this week, when it was time once again for gui & co. to go to the DMV and renew tags.  It was also time for me to renew my driver's license.  First stop was the assessor's office, where in our state you must have your personal property, well, assessed and make sure that the tax was paid on it.  Standing in line for this is a chore in itself, I really don't need to be treated to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" or the theme from "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly" on top of it.  Oh, and there were at least three signs asking people to turn off their phones.  Did people turn them off, or at the very least say "I'll call you back" (I'll give you that even I have forgotten, only to have Van Halen blare out at an inopportune moment, but it gets shut down fast )  NO!  I was treated to several personal calls in that small office, right under the signs.

Next came the cavernous DMV room itself.  For this, you have to take a number and wait your turn.  Let's say I had number 50.  It is not fair for Jane Doe to go outside to chat on her phone,holding number 42,   miss her number being called, and then throw a fit at me because "she was there first".    If they move on from your number, too bad, take another.  I'm not giving my place because you weren't paying attention.  Yes, I really had someone try to get me to give up my turn, eight spaces after hers.

Makes me want to freeze my phone in a block of ice.

gui

[Ko-Ko]

The part about the person wanting her turn after she missed her number is the worst on my opinion. It wasn't like you stole her turn, she missed it and it was her own stupid fault.

While phones ringing doesn't really bother me much, the others should have shut off the phones if there were signs.

I hate entitled people. Not as much as I hate the five page essay I have to do this weekend, but they are definitely up there on the list. 

Ko-Ko

[sammycat]

I saw a recent news story about a cafe in town.  It has put up a sign at the register saying that people on mobile phones will not be served.  Yeah for commons sense and etiquette!   Hopefully more places will adopt a similar approach.

[Ko-Ko]

I saw a recent news story about a cafe in town.  It has put up a sign at the register saying that people on mobile phones will not be served.  Yeah for commons sense and etiquette!   Hopefully more places will adopt a similar approach.

Sadly common sense really isn't all that common. But it's good to see that more places are taking control of this problem. I saw sign once that said any cell phones being used improperly (people talking on them loudly etc) would be repackaged and sold.

Ko-Ko

[dawbs]

I actually had the thrilling experience this week of having an incredibly polite cell phone user...

I was in line to return something at my local *mart* and a man was in front of me. As the CS person said "I can take who is next" his phone rang.  He looked startled for a moment, then stepped out of the line as he turned to me and said "I'm sorry, please, go ahead while I take this at the back of the line"

And moved to the back of the line to take his phone call.
(granted, it was a short line.)

I was pleased
(I do understand the need to answer in stupid places...I'm "grandpa-sitting" again right now, and if my cel rings I treat it as an emergency no matter what, because I am the contact person and there are issues)

[Musicwoman]

One of the kids in the class of 12-year olds was excitedly telling me that he'd got the "flippy" he wanted for his birthday.  The what?  I enquired.  A flippy!  A flippy phone!

Isn't yours a flippy phone, Mrs Musicwoman?

I don't actually have a mobile phone, children.

Stunned and appalled silence from the entire class, which gave way to shrieks of "You don't have a phone?!?" and "How do you live?!?".

Quite happily, children.  I use this old-fashioned thing called a land-line (all say is slowly after me...laaand liiiiiiine.  Very good!), I write e-mails and sometimes I even write letters.  No, I do not feel the need to text, take photos at every opportunity, watch pay TV while I am camping or play games in the micro-seconds I am not otherwise occupied.

They still regard me as very, very wierd.

[sammycat]

One of the kids in the class of 12-year olds was excitedly telling me that he'd got the "flippy" he wanted for his birthday.  The what?  I enquired.  A flippy!  A flippy phone!

Isn't yours a flippy phone, Mrs Musicwoman?

I don't actually have a mobile phone, children.

Stunned and appalled silence from the entire class, which gave way to shrieks of "You don't have a phone?!?" and "How do you live?!?".

Quite happily, children.  I use this old-fashioned thing called a land-line (all say is slowly after me...laaand liiiiiiine.  Very good!), I write e-mails and sometimes I even write letters.  No, I do not feel the need to text, take photos at every opportunity, watch pay TV while I am camping or play games in the micro-seconds I am not otherwise occupied.

They still regard me as very, very wierd.

 LOL   

[amiboo]

I do not feel the need to text, take photos at every opportunity, watch pay TV while I am camping or play games in the micro-seconds I am not otherwise occupied.

I never text, rarely take a picture and I don't subscribe to the service to watch videos or play games on my phone but I wouldn't give it up - no how, no way.  It's still a luxury but it's so convenient that I love it. 

Personally, I don't understand why people are annoyed by some of the things.  The rings don't bother me unless people just let it go on and on, either stop it or answer it.  I don't mind if someone in a line I'm in is talking on the phone, when it's their turn to be helped they should hang up but if they're just in line I don't see the difference between talking on the phone and talking to a person standing next to them.  Standing in line sucks, if I can pass the time by talking on the phone with someone, why not?

[FoxPaws]

A couple of years ago, Mom, Sister, and I decided to look into one of those "family plans" for cell phones. So we go to the phone store on a busy Saturday afternoon to check it out. After hearing the whole pitch, we realized it wouldn't be that great of a deal for us, and my sister told the salesclerk, "I'm afraid we wouldn't get enough use out of it - we aren't the kind of people who need to be on the phone all the time."

When we looked up, the customer across the counter was staring at us like we each had three heads.

[jaxsue]

Our local post office used to have a sign that requested people not talk on their cell phones while in the inner office (where people line up for service). Of course, it was widely ignored, and that sign has disappeared. Apparently the PO has given up!

The other night my DS, his friend and I were at a restaurant. The people at the table behind us thought their phone ring was sooo entertaining. It rang several times during their meal, and the guy was bopping to the ring. They had the ring on "high," I'm sure. It was quite loud. They had several conversations on the phone, all at a high volume, and a few times they had it so that we could hear the other person's voice. Not good cell phone etiquette!

[MineralDiva]

I personally abhor those "cutesy" ring-tones.  Doesn't anyone have a phone that simply "rings" anymore? 

[IndianInlaw]

I do!

Anything less and I can't hear it.

[MineralDiva]

Pretty amazing!

[MerryRaven]

Okay, I love my cell phone.  I use it for work as well as personal use and it is very convenient.   My mom and dad are elderly and have health issues so it makes it easy for my brothers and I to coordinate who will take which parent to a doctor appointment or to the store or check in on them that day.

That being said, I was shocked to see a sign in my doctor's examining room asking people to please turn off their cell phones while the doctor was examining them.

I asked, "Is that really a problem?" and my doctor said she had a woman take a phone call in the middle of a pelvic exam.