Rude Cell Phone Users Suck!

Yesterday I said I was going to spew about the rude behavior of cell phone users. don't misconstrue me; I am no cell phone Luddite. I accept that they are a vauable asset to the 21st Century, but how about some common sense and courtesy? my wife, Kim, says it best: "Why can't people be where they are?"

You no doubt, as we, have witnessed people having dinner together but not really having dinner together because one of them is on the cell phone while the other is basically eating dinner alone. I once observed a man who I assume was in town registering his daughter for school at UWEC and he was on the phone for the entire time they were at the table! Why can't people be where they are?

As a performer, I am always prepared for the yahoo who forgot to turn his cell phone off before the show. I remember one instance where there was a woman right down front and her phone started ringing about ten minutes into the show. (and it's never just a normal "telephone" sound; it's 5 minutes of damn electronic gibberish!) I said: "Why don't you put that thing on vibrate and stick it in a happy place."

Was that a bad thing?

Why do people talk at a high volume when they are on a cell phone? I guess they think that it must be like the two cans attached to one another by a piece of string thing. You can use your normal volume and be heard. did you know that? Nobody else in the resturant (or rest room) really cares to hear that you are currently having a knock-down-drag-out with the spouse.

My son David, who lives in Brooklyn, NY, and works downtown Manhattan has taken to interrupting loud conversations. One day he overheard one side of what was obviously a heated argument between a woman and her mate and he loudly said to her: "Don't let him talk to you like that!"

She got all self righteously indignant and turned to him and said: "Mind your own business. this is a private conversation!" then she realized how stupid that really sounded and hung up the phone and left.

You can always tell when you are driving behind someone who is talking on a cell phone. They drive like they have been drinking. They are always the ones that take enough time to make that left arrow turn so that by the time you get up there, the arrow is red!

Personally, I think there really should be a law that says you can't talk on a cell phone in a moving vehicle. If you must take a call in the car, pull over and take it at the side of the road, okay?

Do I have a cell phone? Yes. It's a pay-as-you-go phone and I only use it when it is really necessary. How about you?