I think anyone who has been in a public space in the past year can agree that people with cell phones can be rude. Not everyone with a cell phone, mind you. I'm talking about the guy sitting behind you in the library telling someone on the phone (and everyone around him in the library) about how drunk he was last night. Or the girl whose phone rings loudly in the theater even though they played fourteen cute animations before the movie started instructing people to turn off their phones. And, of course, there's always the extremely classy guy standing at the urinal with one hand on his cell phone and the other hand... well, you get the picture. People like these are annoying and rude, and there is a right way and a wrong way to deal with them.
Libraries, movie theaters, and other establishments need to create and enforce "no cell phone" policies. Many places already put up a "cell phone use prohibited" sign or have a designated area for cell phone use, but those rules aren't enforced. People will continue to break these rules unless they are reminded of the rule or, in the case of repeat offenders, asked to leave the premises. I don't think it's any more unreasonable for business owners and employees to ask someone to leave for using their cell phone than for breaking any other rule.
But there are unreasonable ways to deal with cell phone yappers:
As cellphone use has skyrocketed, making it hard to avoid hearing half a conversation in many public places, a small but growing band of rebels is turning to a blunt countermeasure: the cellphone jammer, a gadget that renders nearby mobile devices impotent.
The technology is not new, but overseas exporters of jammers say demand is rising and they are sending hundreds of them a month into the United States — prompting scrutiny from federal regulators and new concern last week from the cellphone industry. The buyers include owners of cafes and hair salons, hoteliers, public speakers, theater operators, bus drivers and, increasingly, commuters on public transportation.
Putting aside the fact that cell phone jammers are illegal in the U.S., this is just plain wrong. In the cell phone age, our phones have an important emergency purpose. In Washington DC, they have been consciously trying to improve cell phone service on Metro (and believe me, it's not because rush hour commuters are so tolerant of other people's conversations). What if a woman has a heart attack on the train and the guy in the next car over doesn't turn off his pocket-sized cell phone silencer? As a response to last year's tragedy at Virginia Tech, my school started an emergency text messaging program to quickly disseminate information campus-wide. What use would this be if students' cell phones didn't work in the library?
I am in no way trying to defend the rude ones, but responding to rudeness with rudeness is just plain idiotic. By all means, tell rude cell phone users that they can't use their phones in your business. If their conversations are too important for your rules, then tell them that your other customers or patrons are more important than their conversations.
And please, if you're that guy or that girl, take this time to silence your cell phone.
(Cross-posted at CrazyDrumGuy)