Cell phone rudeness: A sign of the end of the world?

[CBHagman]

In honor of Maddy McCall's discussion of bad behavior involving cell phones (and the revenge fantasies it inspires), I wanted to begin this thread for all-out venting.

How do cell phone users sin? Let me count the ways...

Playing their crappy videos aloud ON THE BUS.

Using those stinking walkie-talkie phones ON THE BUS. Yeah, we needed to hear both sides of your boring-ass conversation, plus that beeping.

And each week my church writes the following in the music handout: "To maintain a prayerful atmosphere, please turn off all cell phones and pagers." But invariably someone does not "maintain a prayerful atmosphere" and we get nasty rings going off during prayers, during the readings, during the homily. :grr:

Vent, people. It'll feel good.

[Deja Q]

1. I was in the store's public-use bathroom one day...

Somebody chatting while on the loo. Glad he didn't eat beans, the one he was chatting with would have heard...

of course, at the clothing store yesterday, trying on jeans in the fitting room area, it was amusing to hear what one bloke and his girliefriend were whispering (and doing) 2 stalls down... :puke:

[musette_sf]

25. i have a co-worker

who regularly uses her cell phone in the loo.

eeeeuuuuuwwwwwwwwww. just eeeeuuuuuwwwwwwwwww.

[raccoon]

59. I have a co-worker who does this too. you can hear the toilet flush.

Edited for clarity.

[Rabrrrrrr]

33. Dude, you just gotta start making screaming pooping sounds

Throw a bowling ball in the toilet; flush repeatedly; moan as humanly loud as possible screaming about the ass pain of your totally record breaking shit; and so on.


"OOOOOOOOHHHHH GOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (FLOOSH!! FLOOSH!!! FDLOOOOOSH!!!!!) HOLY CHRIST I'M IN HOLY PAIN!!!! OHHHHH MYYYYYYY GOOOOOOODDDDDDDDD... HWUUUUUAAAAAA>........ HWWWUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.... HWUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...... FUCKING CHRIST, LOOK AT THE BLOOOD!!!!!!! OH MY CHRIST!!!!!!!"

And so on.

[gr8dane_daddy]

52. Even better...

pretend you're having hot monkey sex in the next stall.

[warrior1]

2. a co-worker

wears her ear bud all the time. In the office, where it's not really needed.

And her cheery ring tone This god-awful.

'Jesus take the wheel'

'bout scares teh crap out of me every time it rings.

[CBHagman]

3. It used to be that you knew...

...someone who was walking around talking to himself/herself was either charmingly eccentric or in need of medical care. With headsets, all bets are off. :shrug:

[alarimer]

4. Nothing bothers me more than cell phones in movie theaters

or places where it is supposed to be quiet. I wish someone would invent something that blocked cell phone signals so that theaters, churches, and the like could block them out.

[petronius]

7. There is such a thing; however, it's illegal in the U.S to jam a cell phone signal

Still, you can buy jammers on-line, if you want - even small ones that you can take to the restaurant or theater with you...

[alarimer]

23. Maybe it's better just to give them dirty looks until they hang up

Of course I am not sure how that works in a dark theater.

[petronius]

27. In a dark theater, you can throw popcorn or ice cubes

:evilgrin:

[Q3JR4]

51. Active Jamming is illegal, but.....

According to this URL, http://www.slate.com/id/2092059/,

<snip>

In the United States, actively jamming a cell-phone signal is illegal. The FCC, which is the government agency in charge of regulating the airwaves, has established severe penalties for doing so. If you're caught at your local restaurant with the SH066PL2A/B , it's possible you could face an $11,000 fine and a one-year jail term. Possible, but apparently highly unlikely. It seems that the FCC has never charged anyone with this crime, even though the American market is one of the most important when it comes to selling cell-phone jamming equipment. One distributor (who wished to remain anonymous) told me they've exported approximately 300 jammers to the United States this year, more than to any other country. The exporter claims that buyers include restaurants, schools (including some universities, which have installed the technology to stop students from wirelessly diddling away on their phones during lectures), and personal users.

<snip>

Americans seeking a legal way to jam cell phones can look into "passive" jamming technologies. For instance, lining your office in lead should ensure that no signals get in or out. But if lead is too industrial to suit your décor, a more genteel alternative exists: You could install "magnetic wood" paneling throughout. A Japanese scientist, Hideo Oka, has invented a new kind of building material, saturated with magnetic particles made of nickel-zinc ferrite that supposedly deflect 97 percent of mobile-phone signals.

<snip to end of article>


I've also read that you can install a type of Faraday cage into the paneling surrounding your office. Similar to the "magnetic wood" paneling mentioned in the article, a Faraday cage is made up of a wire mesh (looking similar to chicken wire) that is grounded. It is also how some buildings defend against EMPs.

[SeattleGirl]

65. I almost got in a fight with a woman at a movie theater because of

her talking on her fucking cell phone during the movie!!!!

First, I just said, "Shhhhh!" She kept talking. So I said, loudly, "Get off your damned phone!!!!" Everybody in the theater applauded me.

After the movie got out, I needed to use the restroom. There she was again, blocking the door, yakking on the phone. I said "Excuse me" and tried to get by. She gave me a dirty look, and I really got pissed. So, I said, "Move!" She did, then followed me into the bathroom. Actually, she stalked into the bathroom, on my heels. I have to say, that scared me a bit, because she was roughly the size of a linebacker. She said, "What's your problem, bitch?" That did it. I planted my feet, and said, "YOU! You seem to think the world revolves around you, and screw everybody else. We paid to see a movie, not listen to you flap your gums!"

I thought she was going to come after me then, but the other women in the restroom stood beside me, and glared at her until she left.

What a fucking bitch! :grr:

[Joe Fields]

5. don't get me started.

I'm thoroughly amazed, as I look back on my life, how I ever survived with NO cell phone, only a land line, and only a public phone booth every few blocks or so. Tell me, how did civilization survive?

Okay, I'll tell you. Very nicely, thank you.

And I still don't own a cell phone, and probably never will.

[Left Is Write]

12. We also survived pretty nicely without cable TV, internet, DVD technology...

microwave ovens, gas-powered lawn mowers, automatic washing machines, dishwashers, snowblowers, and Ron Popeil's Pocket Fisherman. Still, many people have these items because of the convenience and/or pleasure afforded by them.

I decided to get a cell phone when I worked for a wireless company. I'd gone out to meet some friends one night, and I blew a tire on the freeway. It was dark, I was alone, and the nearest convenience store was over a mile away. I walked up there to use the payphone to call my husband, the whole time muttering to myself, "And I work for a CELL PHONE company!" I should have had one already.

[madinmaryland]

13. OMG!!1!! Can you imagine life without DU??2??

:scared:

[Deja Q]

14. Yeah, but without those people had to use sex as entertaiment.

:o

[Oeditpus Rex]

15. You can have my Pocket Fisherman

when you pry it from my clammy, smelly hands.

:grr:

[Joe Fields]

16. False argument. We had phones. We just didn't feel the need

to use them every five seconds.

[Left Is Write]

17. It's not a false argument. The old "we survived just fine without X" argument surfaces...

fairly often about cell phones and other new-fangled items, which is usually just someone's way of saying, "If we didn't have it before, why do we need it now?"

I included my personal story for a reason - I would much rather have a cell phone than have to walk alone after dark to find a pay phone.

It's also easier and faster for, say, the babysitter to contact me on my cell phone than to call a restaurant or other venue, hope I'm still there, and have me paged.

If my kid is throwing up at school, sure, the nurse could leave a message for me on my home phone. However, isn't it nicer that she can call my cell phone so I find out about my sick child much faster?

Yes. We survived fine without cell phones. My mother used to give me a dime every time I left the house so I could call home from a payphone if necessary. Good. It's just that now, instead of carrying around a dime for the phone, I simply carry the phone.


(I might also argue with your assertion that we didn't feel the need to use our landlines every five seconds, because it's clear you've never been a teenage girl. ;) )

[Joe Fields]

18. Again I'll say, how did we ever manage?

Excuse me if I believe they are more of a curse, a blight on society, rather than a convenience.

[Left Is Write]

21. We managed. Some of us can manage more easily now.

[Joe Fields]

30. I jest, to a point. Naturally they make things a little easier.

Who could logically argue against that? But, on the other hand they are probably the most abused utility, and are the source of great rudeness, inconsideration and menace. (the menace part, is when people use them while driving)

[xmas74]

41. Well, we didn't have laws about how long a child can wait at

school for a parent to pick them up if they are sick.

Growing up I remember sleeping for most of the school day in the nurses station, now they don't even have one. And the rule is no more than one hour from the first call or else they will threaten to call Family Services.

If I had reliable coworkers and if they would pass on messages from school then I wouldn't need one.

[Darth_Kitten]

54. I like it when the cell phone users walk off the bus..........

rarely aware they are leaving their own very small children behind.....whoops...yeah, telling your significant other that you will be home in 3 minutes is really necessary. Huh? Huh? WHHHAAAAATTTT?? HUUUUHHH???? huh??

Music to my ears......


I also like it when people are yakking on their phones whilst driving. Feeling safe and not being the victim of vehicular manslaughter is so over-rated anyways.

[raccoon]

60. I too like it when they are talking and driving one-handed in heavy traffic.

:sarcasm:

[SmokingJacket]

26. People have changed their mental habits to fit the technology, too.

I would argue that calling on a cell phone is often a very different experience than using a land line used to be. Used to be if you wanted to make a phone call, you'd have to wait till you got home. So you made a mental list of what you wanted to say, got home, maybe mixed up some instant coffee, and sat down and made your call.

Now, since you can satisfy your urge immediately, you do. And that means that being alone is a different experience than it used to be. If you watch someone sitting alone, waiting for someone, it's usually only a minute or two before they start obsessively phoning. People call so as not to be alone or bored now -- and not just in the house, like they used to, but everywhere.

It's not better or worse, but it is different.

[Left Is Write]

28. I see people sitting alone all the time who are not on their phones.

[GirlinContempt]

73. Well they must be 80,000 years old!

:P

[tigereye]

61. exactly!

it's rare to see people just simply walking, without talking. Sometimes it seems like the only folks walking simply to enjoy the scenery are we older folk who remember what it was like to walk without a cellphone call! ;)

[Dude_CalmDown]

24. Asshats will be asshats with whatever is available to practice their asshatetry

It's not very hard at all to be considerate while owning and using a cell phone. If cell phones disappeared tomorrow the assholes would find another tool.

[Joe Fields]

31. It may not be hard to be a considerate cell phone user, but conversely,

it is also easier to be inconsiderate when using one. And you are correct. Rude people will be rude, no matter what.

[grace0418]

67. So then maybe we should also get rid of cars, airplanes, movie theaters, the internet

and a number of other things because there are rude, inconsiderate drivers, drunk assholes who delay flights, people who insist on talking during movies and folks who post hate-filled rants on Free Republic. You're right, some people are just freaking rude. Why should the rest of us have to be made to feel like criminals for enjoying the wonderful features about technology because of the rude people who aren't going anywhere?

[grace0418]

64. I have two friends who often use that argument and I have to say it is INCREDIBLY

irritating to try hanging out with them.

Now let me start by saying that I find cell phone abusers incredibly annoying and rude to boot. There is no reason that you need to be talking about NOTHING with everyone you know every hour of the day. Especially in public. Give it a rest people, and have some consideration for the people around you.

But back to my friends. I've know them for years and they're great, but the wife is adamant about not getting a cell phone. She says the same thing "we got along fine without them." However Chicago is a big city, and I remember the days of meeting people downtown to go to an event and spending an hour looking for them because of a big crowd. Or having someone tell me they'll meet me at the Melrose but neither of us realizing that there are two locations of this restaurant. Or getting on the el and having it stop on the track for 20 minutes while someone is waiting for you and getting madder by the minute. A payphone is useless in these situations but a quick call on a cell phone can clear up these problems in minutes instead of hours.

And these kinds of problems never happen with my other friends nowdays. It takes just a few seconds to call and say "Hey I'm in the park but I don't see you by the fountain...Oh, *that* fountainon the other side. Okay...Yep now I see you!" or "I'm on my way but traffic is at a standstill, can I get off at the XYZ exit and get still get to you? It would force me 20 miles out of my way? Yikes... Thanks. Okay I'll try that instead." Just a few weeks ago I was meeting my brother for dinner before an event and when he got to the restaurant it had closed due to some emergency. He was able to find another restaurant, get us a table, call me while I was on the el, tell me where to meet him (I had to get off at a different stop) and it all worked out. And we still got to the event on time. If we didn't have cell phones that never would've worked out.

Conversely, my friends who refuse to have cell phones have had a number of problems that could've been easily remedied. Like the time they were driving out of state and asked me to watch their cats. They left instructions and contacts on the dining room table for me, but forgot to check to see whether the new keys they made me worked. So I couldn't get into their apartment and therefore couldn't get to their contact numbers. If it had been any longer than a weekend I probably would've gotten the police involved so I could make sure their cats were alright, but as it was I just had to leave them a message on their home answering machine and hope they got it.

And I can't even count the number of times we've had to just sit and wait for them because they couldn't find us at a big festival, or we panicked about being stuck in traffic and couldn't call them to tell them, or we said "I bet J & E would love this show/concert/festival/antique/piece of art/etc. but they're not home and by the time they get the message it will be too late." Sure, they get along just fine without a cell phone, but they sure make it hard for everyone else.

Beyond convenience, I've found my cell phone to be a real lifesaver in awful situations. When my dad collapsed from an unknown and ultimately deadly nerve disorder, my mother (who can't drive or manage much of anything) somehow got bitten by a brown recluse spider just a few hours later. I kid you not. So in a 24 hour period, my 10 siblings and I had to coordinate getting my mom treatment for a poisonous bite at the emergency room, getting my dad transported to a larger hospital in Seattle (2 hours away) for critical care, getting the 7 of us who did not live in Washington state picked up from the airport and taken somewhere, finding places for everyone to sleep, finding ways for everyone to get to and from the hospital, and communicating with doctors, insurance companies, and relatives. There is absolutely NO WAY we could've successfully managed all that without cell phones. My husband had a similar experience when his uncle (newly emigrated from the Philippines) was dying and he helped coordinate everything on behalf of his aunt (who spoke almost no English).

[rainbow4321]

6. Blocking the damn grocery store aisles while on the phone

Totally oblivious to the fact that they are blocking aisle traffic.

I spoke up to one lady a while back in Sears, also. It was one of those narrow aisles, she was one the phone, walking ever so slowly. Whenever I tried to get around her she would walk faster then walk slower and talk more, then walk faster again. Finally, I said "EITHER WALK OR TALK". She stopped in her tracks. I was finally able to pass her, as I did I heard her say "bitch".

Pot. Kettle. Black.

[TommyO]

53. Wouldn't have "excuse me" been a better way to handle it?

[terrya]

8. The theater.

Me and a friend went to see the stage version of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" here a few weeks ago. There was a recorded announcement before each act asking the audience to shut off their cell phones. And...sure enough...you could hear the sound of a cell phone going off...right after that announcement.

People like that are either too goddamned stupid/rude/both to live.

[rainbow4321]

9. Went to see Spiderman last night..

and right before movie/after previews the theater management turned on the bright overhead lights, making the following announcement "NO test messaging, no cell calls, we don't even want to see the LIGHT from a cell phone. If we do, you will be asked to LEAVE the theater". Got an applause from the crowd after they finished with their warning.

[SPKrazy]

10. I find it rude to be eating with someone and their

phone goes off

of course if they are working i understand that one, but just to chat with whoever, :nuke:

[WindRavenX]

11. every generation has some technology that causes rude behavior

NT

[Left Is Write]

22. And I daresay the rude cell phone users would find another way to be rude

if there were no cell phones.

Gadgets don't make people rude.

[Joe Fields]

32. I saw very little rudeness from the WWII generation. (my father's)

In fact, the people from that generation that I came in contact with weren't rude at all. Might have been their midwestern upbringing, I'm not sure.

[WindRavenX]

35. oh man, I can assure you, they're just as rude.

I think it's really just...wishful thinking to think that a particular generation or time was more or less polite.

[Joe Fields]

56. I wouldn't say it, if I didn't witness it. Please explain to me how

technology during my father's generation allowed them to become rude. That is the question here.

[Skittles]

44. no, no

the worst offenders I see are people my age, and I am 50

[WindRavenX]

45. (did you mean to reply to my post?)

:hi:

[Joe Fields]

57. I don't know where you live, but that isn't the case where I'm from.

At least that's not what I witness.

[acmavm]

19. In some case I see the good that cell phones can bring. My biggest

gripe has already been covered, the idiots who can't even talk and chew gum at the same time out in public being a public nusiance with the thoughtless rude behavior. But not everybody is that way. Just the really ignorant rude ones.

But what cracks me up now is the shit some people download on their phones for a ring tone.

[graywarrior]

20. I went to a wake a while back and as the widower stood near his wife's casket, he'd answer his cell.

I thought it was hilarious. That's probably what killed her, him on the cell phone all god damn day.

[quiet.american]

29. I dream of living somewhere where there's not someone jawing in my ear every second.

When you need a cell phone, it's a beautiful thing, but I've grown to hate 'em because adults who should know better behave like self-centered little brats with them! For Christ sakes, shut up and get off the thing for a minute! Would it KILL you to walk ONE BLOCK with the damn thing in your pocket and not attached to your mouth!

Here in Manhattan, practically from the moment I leave my home until I return, I've got someone jawing in my ear front, back, left and right every single damn moment! I don't want to hear that you don't want to live with your sister, that John will be in Tokyo next week, that you can't make the meeting, that you'll meet for lunch on Thursday, that the new apartment will cost you $7000 a month, that you don't understand why your boyfriend doesn't understand you -- whatever! Just shut up.

On the bus -- typical conversation heard every day more than once on the same ride:

"Hey...yeah, I'm on the bus, where are you....yeah, I'll be there in five minutes...yeah, I'm on the bus, I'm at 69th street... I'll be there in five minutes... is Kristen with you...yeah, I'll be there in two minutes....yeah, I'm getting off the bus now....."

Was that necessary?

On Metro North -- don't get me started. There's rarely an evening ride that doesn't feature a frat boy showing off with a conversation on his cell about the hot chick he's screwing around with, he's not really into her, but she's so hot, and her father's not home, so he's on his way over there.... all the while this guy's lying across a whole row of seats with his bare feet up like he's in his bedroom.... for the love of Mike, sit up and act like an adult.

Ringtones: It use to be you were only captive to someone else's annoying musical tastes if you found yourself stuck in their car with them while they jammed to their irritating music -- now, oy.

Whew -- that felt good.

[BuelahWitch]

34. A mechanic got really snotty with me last week b/c I have no cell phone

He asked for a phone number where "someone" could be reached after they found out what was wrong with my car. Well, I just started a new job and said I would either call them, or they could leave a message on my landline which I could pick up on a break at work. He almost yelled at me, "You mean to tell me you don't have a cell phone?" I answered that until that moment there wasn't really a need for one in my life.
People can't fathom why someone with no need for a cell phone would not have one...

[ElboRuum]

36. Vent? Did you say VENT?

Well, you did ask for it.

The cellphone, as I see it, has no redemption, and as such cell phone users sin by being cell phone users. The sinning began, if you want the truth, the second that person went into those one of those shitty little cell phone boutique stores overseen by 20-somethings with that insipid button-down tie-with-no-sports-jacket "how may we meet your communicative needs today" attitude. Make no mistake, if you stare at them long enough, you'll swear you see a demon flashing you a toothy grin from underneath their skins.

And those plans? Those minute plans? It is the closest earthly thing to a contract for one's soul, because with your family-and-friends free-roaming-with-no-surcharges free text-messaging-until-the-next-Ice-Age (and believe me, they don't think it'll be that long off) you sacrifice your greatest asset as a social being: the ability to communicate in person.

Cellphone users typically will interrupt an in process, in person conversation to answer the phone. Now I want you to think about that a moment and wonder where priorities lay. Here is a person. They are in front of you. They are conversing with you, they are in mid-expression of some interesting and salient thought, and in a symphonic rendition of a Super Mario Bros. theme ringtone you cut them off to answer a question from your significant other about where the remote is or whether or not you'll have time to pick up a gallon of milk on your way home. When you finally return from your conversational detour, you note that the person you were talking to has canted his/her head in a rather odd way with a mottled expression of rage and exasperation.

And you have no idea why.

Well shitwich, it's really obvious to those of us who respect the art of face-to-face communication: you interrupted them. You might have well as yelled at them mid-sentence or slapped them in the face on the downbeat of a syllable.

But we don't just stop there, oh no. We lose other things that we take pride in as humans.

Like the ability to plan, for example.

You've seen them... in the supermarket. As they go from aisle to aisle, they ask questions to some, I don't fucking know, some person play acting as inventory clerk on the other end saying, are we out of Tide? Have we any need for those little green olives, you know, the ones with the pimiento shoved in them? Does the recipe call for condensed milk or dry milk? Aisle to aisle, until the checkout, where they mindlessly enter the 5 or less lane with two cartloads of food and sundries. This, of course, is due to the distractive and somewhat unnatural yapping at someone who is nothing more, in reality, a disembodied voice.

Or the ability to drive...

If I were Lord High Potentate, His Excellency and Magnanimousness, Master of All He Surveys, The Illustrious Elbo the First And Only (and the world should thank whatever god they pray to that I am NOT) I would decree that all who wish to drive while babbling about whatever pointless drivel is currently running through their mind, yelling at their sixteen year old who is, ironically, running up their minutes on their friends and family calling plan, have their surnames changed to Weaver. This is to serve as a warning to everyone else so that they can easily be identified. What's you name? Joe Weaver? OK you drive along first, I'm going to wait here until I'm sure I'll never catch up so I can avoid being in, or having to be a witness to, any accidents you may cause.

"But Elbo! I only use it for emergencies!!!! What happens if I get a flat out in the middle of nowhere?"

Get a spare and learn how to change it, sunshine.

"But what if I'm being chased by a crazy knife wielding guy in a hockey mask?"

Run fast, if you stop to call for help, he'll catch up with you. Oh, you might want to avoid late night Friday the 13th marathons, they're making you paranoid.

I just don't fucking believe you. I don't. I don't believe for one second that this little Star Trek communicator you've purchased stays in its holster until some impending doom is about to consume you. Unless by "impending doom" you mean the utter calamity of running out of milk, bread, eggs, or some other little item that you could probably run out to a convenience store at any hour to get, that is.

I tell you what, if you're really just using it for an emergency device, here's how you convince me. Get a small metal box with a window on the front door, a lock on the side. Paint it red. Print on it "IN CASE OF EMERGENCY, BREAK GLASS". Put a small metal rod hanging from a chain on it. Put the cell phone in, lock the box, and toss the key. Strap it to your waist with a belt or strap of some kind. When that grand emergency occurs, leaving you bereft in the great big world. Take the rod, break the glass, pull out the phone and make the call.

What, too much? Too severe? I knew you were lying.

Besides, I've always hung my hat on the adage that when you're talking you aren't listening, and the cellphone certainly decreases the signal-to-noise ratio in our society on the personal level. If communication is so cheapened that not only does one not listen, but only lives to talk, what future of society must exist? What happens if a society no longer listens, just talks? Bad things, I think.

So take a good long look at that color-coordinated, flip-top, half-phone, half-mp3 player and ask yourself the question: do you want to be responsible for the downfall of civilization? Hmm? Well, do you?

No. I didn't think so.

Save the planet. Get rid of the phone.

[xmas74]

38. I was informed that I had to have one for my job.

Even if I didn't need one for work I would still have one.

Why? Because I work w/ a couple of inconsiderate assholes who have been known not to pass along phone calls from my daughter's school.

It's much easier for me to just have the school call my cell while I'm working. If my daughter needs to leave school it's important that I receive the call immediately, not at the end of the day.

[Monk06]

39. I had to get a cell phone recently. All the features are designed to...

encourage excessive and expensive usage.
Email real time video ????? I'm still
trying to figure out just one instance
when that feature would be useful.

I keep my charges down by letting all
my incoming go to voice mail so the
compulsive chatters in my life can
drive me into the poorhouse

[Left Is Write]

40. But Elbo!

I've never interrupted a "real life" conversation to tell my husband where the remote is.

Give me a break.

[ElboRuum]

42. I didn't have a "hyperbole" emoticon... Sorry.

[Joe Fields]

63. I've had many a personal conversation interrupted by such nonsense.

Not everyone acts as you do.

[Left Is Write]

69. Well - maybe you should rethink your relationships with people

who would cut off their face time with you in order to have an inane cell phone conversation.

[CBHagman]

46. That was a beautiful thing.

:rofl:

[mitchum]

48. Elbo, that is beautiful

well said and well done :)

[Nevernose]

50. Best thing I've EVER read. EVER. (w/ more foul language)

EVER.

You, sir, are a fucking genius.

And it's the "olive" people who really get me:

"Hi, honey. I wasn't sure what you wanted. Do you want French cut green beans in a can, or regular cut green beans in a can. Or I can get some frozen. Or fresh. Are you sure? Okay, those are 3 cents more a can. Okay then, I'll get those."

Fuck them. Fuck them and the green-bean-horse they rode in on. Make a goddamned decision already. Fucking wimps. If he doesn't like what kind of green beans you're buying, then fuck him. She should have brought her lazy ass to the store and bought her own motherfucking greenbeans.

[Joe Fields]

58. Bravo. That succinctly sums my thoughts up on the subject of cell phones.

[grace0418]

66. Wait until you're in a situation where everyone else around you is able to remedy

a problem quickly and efficiently with their cell phones. You might ease up a bit on that rant. Don't believe me? Read my post about my dad collapsing, my mother getting bitten by a poisonous spider and my ten siblings and I having to hop flights to Seattle in a matter of hours. My one brother who didn't have a cell phone (and used to rant an awful lot like you) sure did use *my* phone a lot those few days. And he got his own a few weeks later. There were a lot of arrangements to be made, a lot of doctors/insurance agents/relatives/employers/airlines to be called, a lot of rides to be arranged, a lot of people getting lost in unfamiliar areas, a lot of food to be purchased, etc. It absolutely would not have happened with any degree of success without our cell phones. So get off your freaking high horse, already.

[wildhorses]

37. just one more sign among many

:bounce:

[Skittles]

43. I just don't care being made to listen to personal phone calls

like, in line at the post office - it is f***ing RUDE RUDE RUDE

[Blue_Tires]

47. obnoxious and/or loud ring tones have secret messages in them

they always tell me to STAB THE ASSCLOWN HOLDING THE GODDAMNED PHONE AND SMASH THE FUCKING PHONE WITH A HAMMER AND THROW THEM BOTH OUT THE WINDOW...

Luckily for myself and society, I disregard the subliminal message, but in the future, who knows? :shrug:

[northzax]

49. i confess, I am one of the evil ones

not only do I never leave home (well, except for going to the gym) without my phone, it's also a (I know, I know) blackberry. shocking, I know. email me, and I get it instantaneously, wherever I am. if I want to read it then, I will. maybe I will respond, maybe I won't. I surf the web from crackberry. I send and recieve over 2,000 text messages a month. I IM from my phone. yeah, I am the guy on the bus next to you listening to his iPod and writing emails from his phone. does that bother you? deal, luddite. I like being able to be in touch with people when I want, where I want. I haven't paid a dime for long distance in ten years. I haven't paid a dime for a landline in eight. and yes, it has an off switch (and is always on vibrate.

I find that driving a car is a much more anti-social behaviour: number of people killed by cell phones in the US last year: 0. number of people killed by cars? 43,656. sell your car and get a mobile phone, we'll all live longer.

[NewJeffCT]

55. Cell phones are a lot more common & accepted in other countries

My mother-in-law was here from overseas a few years back for an extended stay. So, she went to an English as a 2nd language night class at a local high school. A guy from Europe was in the class and he was lamenting how far America was behind Europe when it came to accepting cellphones, how common they were and also cellphone technology.

The same when I went to China in 2004. It's common there for people to interrupt a conversation to take a cell phone call, even if you're speaking with your sister and her husband, whom you've never met before. (My sister-in-law did that - she was taking calls every few minutes, it seemed.)

[Evoman]

75. ..................

Number of people killed by cell phones? 0
Number of people killed by cars? 43 656

Watching Evoman dodge out of the way of a knuckledragging cell phone user talking while driving? Priceless

[Dukkha]

62. i think people are afraid on their own inner thoughts

so they'll gab on their cell in a completely trivial pointless conversation instead of just sitting in contemplative silence. Same reason why they need the TV on at home even when they're not watching it. Imagine if they actually did some thinking and soul searching instead. "OMG! I'm an insensitive jerk! I voted for an evil person! I'm wasting my life!"

I really can't stand the ones who talk while at the cashier completely ignoring them it's so rude to the cashier and everyone in line. I got great pleasure from watching one sent out of line at the post office for violating the no cell phone talk while at the counter rule.

[CBHagman]

68. So much "communication," and so much alienation.

I too see people go through the grocery line without pausing for even a second in their constant yammering into a cell phone. It's as though no one can enter their little world.

To be fair, I also see cashiers who either A) maintain a shouted conversation to co-workers across the room when they should be concentrating on the task at hand (i.e., ringing) or B) are zombie employees who neither acknowledge customers nor announce the sales total nor offer thanks at the end of the transaction.

I think misuse of cell phones has, to some degree, enhanced the temptation to be self-absorbed, to be in one's own little world, to demand instant gratification. Anyone who would answer his/her phone during a Broadway play and conduct a conversation in earshot of the cast and audience doesn't exactly score high on the sensitivity scale. I was utterly thrilled at news reports that actors Brian Dennehy and Richard Griffiths called out such offenders right from the stage. I think Griffiths actually replayed the scene after stepping out of character to chew out the cell phone yakker.

[Dukkha]

70. those people should seriously be escorted out.

to interrupt a theatrical performance like that is inexcusable. they're obviously not watching so they can't whine about a refund.

[CBHagman]

72. Hell, I think they should make a formal apology...

...to cast and audience, and also be fined after they have humbly begged pardon. And then they should do community service, too. No one pays for Broadway tickets in order to hear some moron's inane chitchat.

[ganeshji]

71. I was treated to a great conversation in the cereal aisle today.

Apparently Jen is upset that Ruben didn't bring his A game to their Saturday night amorous festivities this last weekend. Jen had planned a night of pleasure with Ruben, she even went to Victoria's Secret, no less. What does Ruben do? He gets, well, a bit too excited too early in the evening, which leaves Jen highly unimpressed.
(sugar/flour aisle) Come to find out that Jen is friends with Marie, Ruben's ex-girlfriend, who claims that Ruben was never so excitable with her. This was apparently a factor in their recent break-up. Marie, however, is a compulsive liar, according to everyone who knows her. And she's getting fat.
(canned veggie/soup aisle)
Jen reports that Ruben's, well, over excitability has caused problems between them on a few occasions. Jen knows it must be her fault, she is a "divine creature" and all men want her everywhere she goes. Remember that time on vacation with both Jen and Cara and the guy at the gas station totally let us have the sno-balls and slurpees for free? It was Jen's ass that carried off that feat of womanly cunning.
(cookie aisle)
Anyway, Jen doesn't really want to date Ruben anymore because he is totally overwhelmed by her hotness. Now she will make an effort to seduce a co-worker and friend of Ruben's. No Jen does not like peanut butter cookies. She prefers chocolate chip. Like she can even help being so fucking hot? It's like, in her genes or something.
(frozen aisle)
Jen will be at the club next weekend, until then she has to go get some work done. If you see her tomorrow, she will be wearing a pink halter top that shows off everything, and she means everything, to her best advantage. Ruben's friend will definitely notice her.
(bakery)
Our chatty friend walks up to the counter, still on her phone. She asks if there is some bread without sesame seeds. Oh, shit, she has to go now. Someone (store employee) has to talk to her about the bread.

I wonder how happy Jen would be to find out that her friend was parroting this conversation in Kroger? Oh, and Ruben, if you're out there, you don't stand a chance pal, the "divine creatures" have spoken.

[Evoman]

74. I've almost been killed SEVERAL times by cell phone morons.

I walk everywhere, since I don't own a car (and really, don't care much for owning one). I AM SICK AND TIRED of almost being run over by knuckle-dragging fucking piece of shit cell phone users who talk while they drive. I've had to literally JUMP out of the way of one of these cars, and came within to inches of being flattened by a minivan. I was bruised, cut, and my ankle got sprained. And the fucking bitch kept driving, no doubt chatting to her asshole husband or idiot children about something completely inconsequential while I lay there bleeding.

Fuck people who drive with cell phones. I will RIP the motherfucking cellphone out of your hands and DESTROY it if anybody ever pulls that shit around me.

[ThatsMyBarack]

77. Wow!

Just as I thought: Those cells can snap as easily as cheap kindling!

[ThatsMyBarack]

76. The catchphrase of the '00s is, "I gotta take this."

That's the rudest one ever! :mad: