With all of the great new surges in technology we are experiencing, lately, it seems that poor old Emily Post is having a hard time keeping up. That is, there is often an entire collective phenomena of “unconscious rudeness” that happens several times a day, every day.
Take this morning for example. I went for a lovely walk outdoors. It was serene and peaceful; very zen. That is until someone who was walking a few feet behind me decided to make a cell phone call. I got to hear all about this person’s life; how she suspected her husband of cheating, again, and how she was thinking of getting revenge.
The thing that struck me most about her conversation most was, for all intents and purposes, she probably thought no one else was listening. She would probably think twice about having her conversation if he buddy was walking beside her instead of on the other end of the phone. As for me, I would have rather listened to the birds.
There is this sort of imaginary bubble around someone who uses a cell phone in public, visible only to them. I call it a technical rudeness. The cell phone caller is being rude in public, but doesn’t always realize it.
Perhaps I am the wrong person to write this article. In the spirit of full disclosure, I have to say that I don’t even own a cell phone. I have never ever sent a text message in my life. No, I’m not hiding under an old fashioned rock, nor am I Amish. I just haven’t yet been able to walk across that bridge from convenience to necessity.
I don’t have anything against cell phone, either. Some of them are quite high on the cool factor, and there has been more than one time when I thought that I really could have benefited by having one available to me.
But I am really turned off when I see all of public life being conducted with a cell phone attached to one’s ear. When I can’t hear my little daughter’s giggles at the playground because the woman pushing the little boy on the swings next to her is talking too loudly about last night’s episode of “The Starter Wife,” I think that is rude. And I think that is sad.
And it seems that I may not have been the only one to become annoyed by this technical rudeness. I have seen more than one sign in a retail establishment that reads something along the lines of: “Please don’t use your cell phone while conducting business with us.”
What do you think? Should people be more aware of their public surroundings when placing or taking a cell phone call? Should cell phone users be expected to retreat to their cars, homes or other private place when in public? Should anyone who is bothered by a public cell phone call just “get a life?” I’d love to hear what you think.
Mary Ann Romans also writes for the Frugal Living Blog here at Families.com, where she shares money saving tips for today’s families.
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