Cell Phone Etiquette

This article appeared in the Sunday, January 17, 2010, New York Times. Lots of interesting points about people walking into glass doors (and telephone poles) while talking on a cell phone. I particularly like this line: "...The constant interaction with electronic devices has made single-tasking seem boring or even unproductive."

I Dont understand why poeple seem to have the need to conatantly talking to some one at all times.

cell phones should only be use for extreme purposes.

The problem that I have with cell phone users, their conversation is too loud. I am not interested in their conversation, they should talk quietly, when they are in public places. Especially when they are on public transportation, doctor offices and other places, where people may be reading their books magazines or newspapers.

people are too loud in public - i.e. bus, lines in banks, lines for movies - people are very selfish and inconsiderate. When we tell them to lower their voices, they protest. I don't know how to remedy the problem.

Did everyone see the articles in The New York Times about the accident stats for using cell phones (and worse for text messaging) while driving? PBS followed up last night with the author of a recent study and he said that while there is almost no difference in accidents occuring when another passenger is conversing with the driver -not counting turning your head to talk to a child or pet, that is - the number of accidents increases by 8% for driving while talking on a cell phone (and 23% increase for text messaging while driving.) The 8% figure is comparable to driving while drunk!! The author of the study made the point that a passenger present in a vehicle may actually help the driver (that might be called some version of "back-seat" driving) while carrying on a conversation, something that cannot happen in a cell phone conversation. Unless the other party is clairvoyant!

I think people view the cell phone, not as having a person walking beside them but as having something better;the ability to extract from the privacy of one's pocket, an instant and personal conversation at the press of a button. You never hear anyone make or answer a call loudly and say, "yes dear... I know but... you're right... I"m sorry." If a call like that were taking place they would talk low and try to end it as soon as possible. Technology has brought the ease of living room conversations into the streets and if you happen to be a captive audience for someone's conversation, your only recourse is to take out your earphones and listen to music. There was a time on the Metro North when courtesy announcements would include the request to keep cell phone conversations low and at a minimum so as not to disturb other passengers. Not so on the buses or in the aisles of department stores; and there's talk of providing service on the subways! It is against the law to play radios loudly and I laugh sometimes to see people, old and young, bobbing their heads to the music coming through their earpieces, but if this subway access becomes a reality and folks start talking even louder to overcome the noise of the trains, I'll have to whip out my earphones and join the head bobbers, even though it's kind of hard to snap your fingers to Yo Yo Ma. (I learned how to put music on my phone from the Oats Advanced Computer Class, with Rob as instructor.) Both cell phones and ipods have the potential danger of slowing down your responses to what is happening around you and that could be harmful.

Here's what I think. If I am in a public place I carry on publicly acceptable conversations with friends. I don't really want to have a private conversation in a place where others can hear me, like on a bus or in a store. The problem I find, is that some people on cell phones think that because they are on a phone, they can carry on private conversations or business calls. This is annoying to me because I don't want to hear about their dramatic lives, or how much money someone is looking to get. Something about cell phones give their owners a sense of being in a separate world. Not quite in the world around them. That is quite annoying.

Tom, I read your posting earlier today and found myself throughout the day trying to nail down in my mind exactly why so much public cell phone use is so annoying. First, I think, is the sense of violation of personal space-and-boundaries that a cell phone conversation represents. Where a conversation is going on between two people who are together, a bubble of a certain kind is created around them and I can remove myself, knowing who the participants are. With a cell phone, the user seems to be addressing the “universe” and at the same time announcing, “The space we are in is MINE and if you (the bystander and forced listener) don’t like it, tough!” OR, “I choose to obliterate you (the bystander and forced listener) in this space. You don’t exist. Drop dead.” I am being involved whether I like it or not. We have long standing even unconscious norms of behavior for personal conversations being conducted in public, but no norms have been created for cell phone conversations in public. Tone of voice, choice of topic, duration (God, am I going to have to listen to this all the way to Washington D.C???) Etcetera. It is the world of technology forced on the hapless passerby. No, to answer your question, having a cell phone conversation is not the same as talking to a friend who may be walking alongside you. The “message” for an observer (or forced listener) is different. For me, at least, the cell phone conversation is sending an infinitely more narcissistic message to the “universe” such as "I matter, and you don't (exist)." The subliminal message is Drop Dead. Thanks for raising the issue, though. Many days I would like to stand atop a fire hydrant and rant about this. But that might violate the personal space-and-boundaries of passers-by, don’t you think? Or the cops might haul me off to Bellevue.