Archive for the 'Summer 2010' Category

I Love my cell phone, but….

There is one thing that annoys the crap out of me that is a potential and unfortunate side effect of  the cellular world – Stupid people who don’t know when to put the darn things down!

I’m all for being connected, and up until last summer I hung on to my ancient cell phone, not wanting to be closer to the internet or texting services, or video/camera gadgets.  I just wanted a phone that made phone calls.  Period.  Well, those phones are going extinct (if they haven’t already kicked the bucket), and after playing with my sister-in-law’s iPhone and hearing the “this is neat and you’ll love it because” speeches from my husband and brother countless times, I broke down and joined the fad and am now in love with my iPhone.  I use the map features, I text a bit with a few people, keep my appointments and engagements on the calendar, and have some stupid games that have entertained me in waiting rooms.  But people – I know when to leave the thing in my purse!!!!!

According to me ~ When you should hang up for goodness sakes and call/text your friend, hubby or mom back later:

In a restaurant

In line at a retail venue

In a movie theater

While driving

Gabbing on the phone in a restaurant:

Annoying in general, but it especially amazes me when the person with the phone glued to the side of their head is dining with someone else ~ this is even more amazing when both/all parties are on the phone simultaneously.  I mean, why even be dining together?  If you’re going to sit and talk to someone other than the person in your presence for twenty minutes or longer A) just don’t bother dining out, B) at least take it outside so you don’t subject other diners to half of a conversation that is probably being spoken louder than necessary *And why the other person at your table puts up with it or you, I’ll never know!*

Fix a sandwich and stay at home to make your oh-so-important phone calls, or grab some fast food at the drive-through and then go home to make said calls.  Don’t yack away during your entire meal out somewhere.  No one else wants to hear it.

In line at a retail store:

Having worked retail for a number of years before I had kids, this is something I grew to abhor, and I myself try to be courteous and polite as a customer now, too.  Do not bring your basket full of items to me at the counter while on the phone, give me the “just a minute look” when I try to ask you if you need anything gift wrapped or how you would like to pay…Excuse me???  You are in my store, in line, there are people behind you I could be helping while you wrap up your conversation.  Don’t make me whisper to you in the breaks when your mouth briefly stops flapping and don’t cut me off when you have to inject a comment to your girlfriend and ask me to repeat myself because you weren’t listening the first time I asked you something.  There is such a thing as manners, and apparently you have none.  Finish talking while you finish browsing, THEN ask me to help you.  Not hard.

Next, In a movie theater:

Do not be a moron and text or jabber while in a movie theater.  Once you are done with the concessions line and in your seat – put it up!  The glow emitted from your little device while you text throughout the entire film is horribly obnoxious to those around you, and if you have to for whatever reason take a call, GO OUTSIDE – do not try to “whisper” your conversation as you’ll likelybe trying to whisper loud enough to be heard over the movie dialogue or soundtrack, which makes what you are doing NOT whispering.  I paid $8 or more to hear and see a movie, not to hear your one-sided conversation over the movie.  I don’t care how bad the movie may be, don’t annoy me or waste my time & money.  And if you’re gonna be on the phone the whole time anyway – WHY WASTE YOURS?!?!  Leave the movie and go SEE the friend you find it necessary to text incessantly or meet your friends for coffee and enjoy an actual face-to-face conversation without slumping down in your movie seat trying to hide your phone glow and non-whisper.

And lastly, While driving:

I am the first to admit I have committed this sin (which in some states is now a LAW).  But I am also going to tell you honestly that since the recent rise of the cell phone, and the endless assortment of wireless headsets and Bluetooth technology integrated into cell phones and newer cars, I do my darndest to make use of the hands free systems available.  It allows me to keep both hands on the wheel, be able to keep my head mobile to turn and look over my shoulders when changing lanes, and use turn signals and wipers and all that other stuff properly.  I try my best to not make or answer a call unless I have to, and sometimes you’ll find me parked in a parking lot somewhere with a movie on in back for the wee one, so I can talk in peace for a minute without trying to multitask like that.

There are a number of different ways I see people holding their cell phones to their heads, none of which make it possible to fully look behind you or in your blind spots (I also cannot stand people who drive with their damn dogs IN their laps, unable to drive properly because of the furry blob parked oh so conveniently in between their arms and steering wheel.  Put the pet in the seat next to you or in the back.  Don’t be an ass and HOLD it while driving.  If you can’t let go of your pet for the duration of a car ride – damn, man – get some therapy – but that is an entirely different subject).  Also, having one hand at your ear doesn’t make for very efficient turn signal usage, now does it?  To keep it simple and short – y’all, it isn’t just STUPID, it’s not SAFE.  We’ve all been cut off by an idiot who doesn’t look before pulling out or changing lanes because * let’s say it together ~ they’re on the phone!!  We have all been behind someone around town who fluctuates between 10 and 40 miles per hour because *they’re on the phone!!  We’ve had to hit our brakes because the car in front of us brakes suddenly and makes the WIDEST turn you’ve ever seen, wheeling the car around with one hand because why?? * They are on the phone!!  We get stuck behind someone in the fast lane on the highway going 10 under that doesn’t realize they have a line of 27 cars trying to get around them because *they are on the phone.

Having my little one, soon to be plural little oneS in my backseat has made me more conscientious and more aware of not only my driving, but the way people around me are driving.  I will not have you cause an avoidable accident because you are talking, holding your phone, driving and not paying full attention to what you SHOULD be doing as the operator of your automobile.  The headsets/ear pieces/wireless technology available is so easy to procure and use.  Invest in something you like to try and help make driving a little bit safer with phone usage.

So.  That’s idiotic cell phone use according to me, and what you can do to avoid being one of the idiots.