A friend tells me her daughter-in-law pulls her cell phone halfway out of her pocket every few seconds to check it while they are visiting, while she's in the middle of conversations with family members. When the young woman’s mother comes to visit with her, they text each other even though they’re both in the same room. When her daughter-in-law answered a call at the dinner table, my friend stepped out of character and pulled a church-lady on her: “We don’t bring cellphones to the table in our home, dear.” The young woman was gobsmacked, but hasn’t brought a phone to the table since.
Amtrak asks you take your cell phone conversations to the area between cars so you don’t bother other passengers, but I've noticed an uptick in the number of peoeple who don’t bother to leave their seat. Conductors used to say something to the phone user; those nudges look to be on the decline.
It’s no longer kids who are continually plugged in, it’s
everybody. Actually, it appears to me that people are growing more and more clueless about their intrusive cell phone and text-monitoring behavior, and fewer and fewer of us are willing to speak up. Studies on the impacts that all this hand-held, on-line, immediate-response activity is having on how we communicate in person and in depth litter the internet, as always, ironically.
On Star Trek, crew members constantly hit that little comm badge on their uniforms and interrupt conversations to start new ones (looking to Star Trek as an example of what the future could be. Generations nailed tablets). But that’s different. Most of those communications are relevant or urgent. And Star Fleet peeps are military/explorer/scientist folks on a mission.
What about us Earth-bound, regular people? Or should I say “atmosphere-bound” since cell phone use on planes is changing, which is just lovely.
It’s difficult to imagine life without cell phones; I get nervous when the kids leave home without one. Cell phones, smart phones, or portable communication devices that we have yet to invent, are here to stay. But we still haven’t figured out how to behave with them.
Let’s all agree that texting and driving is absolutely wrong. Read Leslie Salzillo’s recent diary on the topic here if you still have any doubts that you shouldn’t still have.
Answering or making calls on your cell phone while driving is also an irresponsible choice unless you have hands-free capability either added on by you or built in to your car. Otherwise, pull over. Which brings up another issue because I bicycle: Do you really need to pull over to the shoulder or into the bike lane to answer a call or text? Really? I shouldn't have to go around you on my bike and into traffic because someone in your household wants to know how long it will before you get home. Pull into a parking lot or wait. No Facebook checking or even map/gps checking on your smart phone while you are driving either. Get off the road and get your bearings and leave social media for when you need a distraction from something other than driving.
So, what do all of you think makes for good cell phone manners? Including checking for texts in social settings or during meetings. How do we encourage and/or enforce common sense use? When is it appropriate to answer calls? When should you ignore that silent/vibrate mode that everyone can hear? What are your “worst cell phone behavior ever” stories? What do you think of people who answer their cell phones when you call and then tell you they can’t talk right now, especially given all cell phones have caller id?
I could cite all kinds of studies on cell phone and smart phone use from the internet, but we have our own thoughts and ideas, so let’s discuss. Go ahead and talk amongst yourselves. I just need to answer this call. Keep talking. I can listen while I deal with this….