To all cell phone users, can you hear me now?
As cell phone use grows, use of cell phone manners falls
Kristin Phillips
Issue date: 9/15/05 Section: Opinion
Imagine a world without your cell phone. You would have to make plans ahead of time and not be able to text message while bored in class.
With cell phones becoming increasingly popular, the etiquette that goes along with using one seems to have disappeared.
According to the wireless analyst company EMC, there are more than 157 million cell phone subscribers in the United States. Some of these people have most likely upset someone with their lack of etiquette.
Why should someone care whether or not they have cell phone etiquette? One too many times I have experienced or been told of an instance when someone is with a friend whose phone rings and all of a sudden he or she takes the backseat to the cell phone.
It's not only rude but also disrespectful to talk excessively on the phone while you are with someone else. You send the message that you would rather talk to the person that called you. Leaving someone at a restaurant table to talk on your phone outside for an extended period of time is even worse!
Cell phone misuse can also happen around people that you don't know. I have seen countless times when a person talks on a cell phone about personal issues, not realizing how many people could be listening.
On public transportation, this can be a real problem. I was sitting behind a lady on light-rail. For the whole 20-minute ride, she was talking on her phone about how she caught her husband cheating on her. Please save the graphic conversations for someplace where you aren't crammed in like sardines.
Most of the common forms of cell phone etiquette don't deal with life and death situations. However, one cell phone habit that can have deadly consequences is when people drive while talking on their phones.
It's no coincidence that most times that I am cut off on the freeway is because the other driver has a cell phone glued to his or her head. According to a six-month study in 2002, the California Highway Patrol reported to the state Legislature that cell phones caused 11 percent of car accidents related to drivers' inattention.
A less serious cell phone offense is the annoying ring tones, or in some cases, vibrating. Too often during a class do I hear the buzz buzz buzz of someone's cell phone coming from a backpack. How often does that student reach down to press a single button to make it stop? Not often enough.
The whole purpose of setting your phone on vibrate is so that you can feel your phone vibrating in your pocket, not hear it vibrating in your backpack. What is the point of even having it on vibrate during class? You don't need to know that someone is calling you, unless you are actually planning on answering it in the middle of a lecture.
If there is anything that can be asked of cell abusers, it is to turn off that annoying vibrating sound, remember that three's a crowd (you, me and your phone) and most importantly, stop cutting others off on the road because you can't handle two tasks at once.
Cell phone etiquette, it's not that hard of a concept.
With cell phones becoming increasingly popular, the etiquette that goes along with using one seems to have disappeared.
According to the wireless analyst company EMC, there are more than 157 million cell phone subscribers in the United States. Some of these people have most likely upset someone with their lack of etiquette.
Why should someone care whether or not they have cell phone etiquette? One too many times I have experienced or been told of an instance when someone is with a friend whose phone rings and all of a sudden he or she takes the backseat to the cell phone.
It's not only rude but also disrespectful to talk excessively on the phone while you are with someone else. You send the message that you would rather talk to the person that called you. Leaving someone at a restaurant table to talk on your phone outside for an extended period of time is even worse!
Cell phone misuse can also happen around people that you don't know. I have seen countless times when a person talks on a cell phone about personal issues, not realizing how many people could be listening.
On public transportation, this can be a real problem. I was sitting behind a lady on light-rail. For the whole 20-minute ride, she was talking on her phone about how she caught her husband cheating on her. Please save the graphic conversations for someplace where you aren't crammed in like sardines.
Most of the common forms of cell phone etiquette don't deal with life and death situations. However, one cell phone habit that can have deadly consequences is when people drive while talking on their phones.
It's no coincidence that most times that I am cut off on the freeway is because the other driver has a cell phone glued to his or her head. According to a six-month study in 2002, the California Highway Patrol reported to the state Legislature that cell phones caused 11 percent of car accidents related to drivers' inattention.
A less serious cell phone offense is the annoying ring tones, or in some cases, vibrating. Too often during a class do I hear the buzz buzz buzz of someone's cell phone coming from a backpack. How often does that student reach down to press a single button to make it stop? Not often enough.
The whole purpose of setting your phone on vibrate is so that you can feel your phone vibrating in your pocket, not hear it vibrating in your backpack. What is the point of even having it on vibrate during class? You don't need to know that someone is calling you, unless you are actually planning on answering it in the middle of a lecture.
If there is anything that can be asked of cell abusers, it is to turn off that annoying vibrating sound, remember that three's a crowd (you, me and your phone) and most importantly, stop cutting others off on the road because you can't handle two tasks at once.
Cell phone etiquette, it's not that hard of a concept.