Rude People With Cell Phones...Cell Phone Etiquette?

I totally agree it can be more than annoying!

I will say, though, not as a defence, but as another perspective, most jobs I have had have required me to be available via cell virtually all the time.

I have picked up calls and texts in some pretty off the wall places - I felt badly - but it was that or never leave home!

No excuse for doing it without an apology and I doubt it is the case with teenagers! I usually warn people in advance it might happen.

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Once again we return to the adage that common sense is not all that common. I'm starting to think that our society has grown so shallow that spending ten minutes alone with one's own thoughts is tantamount to torture. They seem to feel the need to be connected to someone 24/7, and start lining up the next one when one appears to be winding down.

I'm a gadget freak, but I only recently joined the whole cell phone thing. I got it because it's simply safer and a land line cost way more than I would ever use it. Sometimes I go a week or so without even touching my home phone. I got a prepaid plan, and once I averaged out my spending, a discounted plan for government employees, of which I am one, was a good deal.

I DO NOT use it while driving because my old rules are still in place: a ringing phone does not have to be answered, and the phone exists for my convenience.

My biggest complaints sometimes aren't so much that people use their phones to extreme, but that everything else going on at the same time suffers because of it. They drive badly, both swerving out of their lane and going significantly slower than traffic because "it's safer." They park badly, and they can't be bothered to correct the bad parking because that would require both hands and an extra 30 seconds to back up and pull in straight. They even walk badly. Have you ever walked behind someone while they talk? They swerve as badly as they do on the road. You have to watch and run like entering a game of double-dutch.

I was rear-ended TWICE by someone talking on a cell phone, because even when they're going slowly, they're distracted and they keep on going...

I understand having one for work, and my boss likes to text when he's out of town. Many companies ban employees from talking while driving, but they do it anyway. Note to the wise, if you have a "How am I driving?" sticker on your vehicle and you're on the phone, I calling it in. But I'm waiting until I'm parked.

So, I can rant with you, but in our self-centered culture it won't do a lick of good, I'm disappointed to say. People think everything is a matter of rights. But these alleged "rights" in the face of courtesy are excuses for bad behavior. And no one has rights when they impose on another person's rights. You don't have a right to drive like a drunkard, disrupt a film (yes, even the light from the display while you're texting can be seen and is disruptive), slow down the checkout line, smoke in a closed public space, or fart in elevators! It's all the same.

I completely agree with you. Cell phones, iPods and other electronic devices have become quite a nuisance. The irony of it all is that these were all meant to benefit people and makes lives EASIER not more annoying.

One thing I hate about people using cell phones is BLUETOOTH! I can walk by people talking on their stupid earpiece thing like they're CEO of some huge company. And then when they sit down to eat, they don't even consider taking it off.

Texting, like you mentioned is also rude at the dinner table. My sister has been in the habit of texting at the wrong times. Very sad.

Hello True,

I agree with your point of view. Though I have a cell phone for my field work and one for town, I use them only when absolutely necessary and do not carry one in person unless I'm expecting an important call. I refuse to be a slave to a phone so when out with friends, gone for dinner or dating someone in the past I shut the bloody thing right off.

I didnt read alot of it but got the gist of it by the title :)

Bakers Delight in Australia is doing something to stop rude people on cell phones, They have put up signs in their stores saying that the wont serve anyone who is talking on a cell phone which I think is a very productive step (although the manager says they will serve people but have noticed that alot more people turn them off or hang up when they approach the store).

A couple of cafe's are flat out refusing to serve ANYONE!

Good for them!

I hear you on this one.

I had a 2 1/2 hr., 4:32 a.m. train commute, end-to-end. Except for one idiot who sat next to me one morning and yakked on her cell, it was relatively quiet.

Nights were another story. Seemed like I'd always get the ones who sat either next to, or behind me, yakking away, and the rest of the train's quiet. They were louder than my IPod. Sometimes they'd get dirty looks from other commuters trying to take a nap, like myself. No one's saying "don't talk", just be considerate and keep your volume down. When they boarded, the train's already packed and I couldn't change seats, so I was stuck-until maybe half-way into my commute or depending on when they'd get off.

I now drive to a part-time job, and watch out for drivers on their cell. I'd rather do that than have to deal with yakkers in my ear.

I totaly understand where you are coming from!

my dad is the worst when it comes to that!

If we are spending any time with each other he is almost always on his cell or on the computer playing WOW.

I also know someone that does it in my support group... not talk but is possibly playing games or something. It makes me angry when someone is opening up their feelings and you dont even have the courtesy to listen with all your attention for 1 hour!

its also annoying when people in public places answer their cell phone and then proceed to have very loud or very personal conversations. especially if they have a bluetooth headset, and they say hello to someone on the phone, and you think they're talking to you, its confusing! i've responded to these people on occasion, only to be embarrased when i realize they are on a phone that was not visible to me.

also, people that drive while talking on phones. there have been studies that this is as dangerous or possibly more dangerous than someone who is driving drunk. crazy! and yet people still use phones and drive.

I just wanna friggin smack the damn phone out of their hands and sock them in the face.

That always happens with my friends and me... Whenever I go to socialize, I turn my phone on vibrate and leave it in my pocket and don't answer it unless it is my nanny, parent, etc. But some people are constanly fidgiting with their phones and I hate it!!!! Those are the people who should learn not to bring their phones or at least turn them on silent or vibrate!!! JEEZZZ

All you people who do that (and you know who you are) should really consider changing your ways... Phones are meant for doing quick calls to say where we will meet, etc. And I usually don't tell people but if I get annoyed with their constant phone usage, I leave or tell them to stop because I just wanna pull my hair out when people do that...

~Joe~