Miss. Manners and Emily Post have a new issue to address: cell phone etiquette.
They might as well get into the fray – it looks like the politicians are going to get involved in legislating use of the convenient mini-appliances while driving.
So far, I haven’t been hit by a DWCPT (Driving While Cell Phone Talking) driver, and I've never hit anyone else in the process of DWCPT, so I have no personal experience from which to draw.
I have, however (and this is where Miss Manners and Emily Post come in), been subjected to other people’s cell phone conversations in inappropriate places and at inappropriate times. It is annoying and disruptive to have the dang things going off in restaurants. On one recent occasion, two women and their young children were seated at a table near us. Throughout their meal (and ours I might add) both women proceeded to talk on their individual cell phones, often at the same time. This conduct is particularly annoying when the caller or the callee is hard of hearing.
Now, let me ask a question. How many of you sit at your own dining room tables with guests or family members, each with a personal talking device (PTD), and use them throughout the meal? I hope the answer is none. So why is the practice acceptable in a restaurant?
As far as other inappropriate places for use of the devices, public (or private) restrooms come to mind. We won’t go there ... you get the picture.
I will tell you that we were having some work (I won't say what kind) done in our office a few years ago, and one of the subcontractors had his PTD with him. He answered it in our office as he did his work, went into the restroom while on his PTD, and was still on it when he came out.
Murray was in a convenience store the other day when he and all the other customers were subjected to a one-sided conversation by a woman pacing up and down the aisles ranting all the while about not being able to find a particular condominium. The volume and tone of her conversation brought everything in the store to a complete halt.
And, I have had people in my office who have received cell phone calls on what I consider my time and our staff’s time. The situation has arisen enough times in this office that we’re about to institute a "No Cell Phone Zone.
Let’s hear it from Miss Manners and Emily Post on this one.