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| Cell Phones and Self Control |
Yesterday, the guy standing at the next urinal got mad when I flushed. He was on his cell phone and didn’t want the person on the other end to know what he was doing. He glared at me when I turned on the faucet, and he gave me one of those film director “Cut” signs with his hand across his throat when I hit the dryer button. He was so angry, in fact, he walked out of the men’s room without flushing or washing his hands.
He waited for me outside and I expected a confrontation. Instead, he simply apologized and told me that his girlfriend gets furious whenever he rings her from the bathroom. One time, she realized he was calling her from a men’s room stall, and she refused to have sex with him for a week afterward. With "Too Much Information" screaming through my brain, I told him it was no problem and have a nice day. He reached out to shake my hand. I declined.
I don’t know if this is a matter of Netiquette or an issue for Miss Manners, but it seems to me that we need to set some rules about the times and places when cell phone usage should absolutely be prohibited.
Here is my starter list:
- In the bathroom. Seated or standing, there should be no mobile communication while evacuation is in progress.
- In church. This may seem obvious, but I remember reading an article about a woman who knew she was addicted to her Blackberry when she caught herself checking for messages while riding in the hearse at her grandmother’s funeral.
- When you're at the front of a line waiting for the cashier or ordering fast food. Remember, the people behind you don’t want to hear how toasted you got last weekend, so please just shut up and order your skinny decaf caramel macchiato with extra foam and three sweet-n-lows.
- While working as a cashier or taking fast food orders. We don’t mean to be rude and we wouldn’t want to inconvenience you, but we are the customer here, aren’t we?
- In an elevator. Even when whispering, these enclosed places amplify your voice. It gets worse when you try to talk over the Muzak playing in the background, so please just wait two minutes until you get to your floor. I miss the good old days when it was impossible to get a signal inside an elevator.
- In the fast lane. Driving while talking on a mobile phone requires strong multi-tasking skills. So, if you don’t have a hands-free model, get out of the passing lane before making that call. I can always tell when the driver in front of me is engaged in some riveting conversation, because their car invariably slows down. As Ellen DeGeneres says, "If you need both your hands for whatever it is you're doing, then your brain should probably be in on it too."
Well, that’s my list. I'm curious if you have any others that you’d like to add. I'm sure there must be other cell phone etiquette rules, but I’ve really got to take this call right now …
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Posted by pgm on 2008-08-23 08:10:13 | Rating: | Views: 318
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