OK. I admit it, I am probably the only person in the entire world who does not have a cell phone. So, maybe I just don’t get the need for constant flowing of conversational information, and maybe I don’t get that someone really needs to know immediately that I am walking the dog in the park, but geeez—I also don’t want my space constantly invaded by conversations of people I do not even know, nor want to know about their hemorrhoid operations or their sexual escapades. I mean, whatever happened to private space?
Standing in line at Earth Fare behind a woman on the cell phone, I was struck by the incredible chutzpah [she] exhibited by ignoring the clerk, who was desperately trying to wait on her, [because her] phone conversation was so important it superseded basic politeness. And on top of that, she was having a very personal conversation that I had no choice but to hear. I don’t think this is what is meant as freedom of speech!
Recently, I was in the West Asheville Post Office, and I saw this sign: No cell phone use allowed. My first thought [was], “the (un)PATRIOT act.” I asked the clerk, and she looked at me and said, “Only one reason we have that sign up—it is rude to use the cell phone while being waited on!” Imagine having to get to the point that we have to point out what is rude behavior.
And what about drivers so busy talking that driving is secondary? How dare they put the rest of us at risk. Have you seen the one where in the middle of a turn in a major intersection, the cell-phone user is busy dialing and just stops? Have you seen the mother, with two kids in the back seat, looking down at her cell phone rather than watching the road? Have you experienced that the speed of the car is determined by the type of conversation? How about walking down the street—isn’t it the most amusing thing to see people talking to themselves?
Oh, and I know what the next major malady will be. You know this one: the crooked neck syndrome—cradling the cell phone between head and shoulders while driving the car, lighting a cigarette and adjusting the radio!
Help. I want my private space back! I am being polluted by secondhand talk! Anyone wanna make the bumper sticker? END SECONDHAND TALK NOW!
Ariel, you left one out…the one about drivers talking on their phone while reading some paper or magazine. I see this way more often than one might believe. I think we should treat cell phone use like smoking in public places. One is about as obnoxious as the other. I would like to see cell phones checked at the entrance to restaurants or other places where we shouldn’t have to endure the boring conversations!