It's worse than that, Amy. My wife gets people who won't even stop their cell phone conversations while they try to transact business at the store.

I will award all my business to the first store that tells their clerks to not serve people using cell phones.

The fight against douchebags continues apace.

I try my best not to be on the phone at a drive-through or whatever. Is it too much to ask that others do the same?

I also have a problem with candidates and people behind issues who use recorded phone messages or otherwise telephonically bother you at home. Walter Moore, the candidate running against our junketing, idiot mayor, does not use them.

There's really no point in saying anything. People who are inconsiderate enough to interrupt a special moment/show/etc. with cell phone conversation or texting are always going to act like you're the one with the problem. "CAN'T YOU TELL HOW IMPORTANT I AM???"

I get annoyed when I have reached the front of the queue in a shop, and am being served, but the shop phone rings and the shop assistant immediately interrupts my service to answer it. I have walked out of the shop in these circumstances, but it would be better to say "Excuse me, I was here first." Ideally the assistant should say "Thanks for your call; you are number 4 in the queue, if you would like to wait," but that never happens in my experience. Grr. Just thinking about it.

Recently, I was attending to my sister in a Cardio Intensive Care Unit. They have signs up everywhere prohibiting the use of cell phones and for good reason. A visitor came in one afternoon and within two minutes their cell phone went off. Then I went off. I’m usually one to look the other way when it comes to others stupidity but when it is life threatening that’s another matter entirely.

One of the convenience stores I frequent in my neighbourhood has a sign that has a cell phone and the red circle with the diagonal line over it on the door. And another sign at the cash register that says "I will be happy to help you when YOU FINISH YOUR CALL. Thank you." Apparently all the clerks have been told to ignore the people who are talking on their cells to help the next customer in line. I was in there once, with a gallon of milk in one hand, and a loaf of bread in the other, looking at the magazine rack while I waited my turn. Guy in front of me, his cell phone goes off, he answers it, and the clerk looked at me and said, "next" and the guy on the cell had a fit. The clerk didn't even say a word, just pointed to the sign, and then at the door. Cell phone guy started screaming into his phone about the "rude service"!! I said nothing, paid for my stuff, and left. He was still standing there, yelling at the clerk and into his phone! Amazing. o.O

I generally don't do more than glare (and seethe inwardly) when I'm annoyed by public rudeness - which is pointless & cowardly.

But 90 excruciating minutes into The Curious Case of Benjamin Button at our local fleapit at the weekend (most god-awful movie I've seen in ages) the non-stop burbling of four teenagers in our row made my foul mood even fouler.

I stood up, leaned over and said - in an oddly super-polite tone (I thought it was going to come out as a scream!): "Can you please just try to talk less loudly?".

Amazingly, they did try to turn down the volume. And got so bored not being able to hear each other properly, they all quietly walked out.

Though this probably only works for crap films.

Roger - They have signs up everywhere prohibiting the use of cell phones and for good reason.

I'm not sure the reasons are so good. Something to do with the hospital being able to charge exorbitantly for their own phone service, if patients can't use their own mobiles. Having them go off all the time might be annoying though.

Aircraft taking off and landing is another case. Is it really so easy to crash an aircraft? If so, why are mobiles allowed on board at all?

I've got them on the list, yes I've got them on the list, and they'll none of 'em be missed, they'll none of 'em be missed.

Their attitude is pretty much the same as when you're driving along
and some arrogant jerk decides to pull an illegal u-turn right in
front of you practically causing a major accident. You give them
the shrugged shoulders signifying "what are you doing" look and
what do you get back - the big f you finger....

yup, the world's just full of conscious people.

I don't see why using a cell phone in public should be different than carrying on a conversation with another person in public. Wherever a face-to-face conversation would be in place, a cell phone conversation should be fine too.

see, kishke, that's the weird thing... I have a cube mate opposite me that has no problem having conversations with co-workers in a way that I don't hear every word. He gets on the phone? EVERY WORD IS SO LOUD I KNOW EVERY NUANCE OF THE CONVERSATION. "dude, cant you tell you are yelling on the phone?" 'I was?'

I see this all the time on cells... some people just can't tell how they are talking on the phone. Then there are those that do not consider private conversations to be private I guess. I don't want to know about the interesting places you've been itching since that drunk night with some guy. No, Really.

There was a point in wall*e where two human whales suddenly lose their virtual glasses, and notice that there are other people around. There is something about speaking into a phone that requires other parts of your brain to fire, I think. This is why even talking with a hands free set can get you into a car accident. It's almost as if there are subtle cues in normal conversation that simply don't come through over the phone, and so you are struggling in vain to get them. If you are sitting down and giving the person on the other end a lot of attention, that cue can be made up. If you are not where you can give them your full attention, you try to compensate. Ithink that's why the perception of how loud you are talking and how much attention it takes gets skewed.

"you wanna talk to me? come talk to my face, the phone may be lying..."

Yeah, I definitely agree that if the volume exceeds that of normal conversation, it's rude. But otherwise, I don't see the problem.

Kish:
A) It's sooooo much more annoying when you are deprived of the other half of the conversation.

b) People talk louder on cell phones.

c) when you are having a face to face conversation with someone you have the benefit of social clues as to whether your conversation is appropriate. When you're on the phone you can't see that the other person is clipping their toe nails instead of signaling that you're being a bore.

wish i had learned to type fast back when i could still learn new things.

True story direct from a personal friend of mine in Northern Indiana, just outside of Chicago. Her husband is a bankruptcy attorney and she helps him run his practice.

There's a sign on their door that clearly says that cel phones are not permitted to be turned on when entering the office. Recently one fellow who was there, seeking the services of the bankruptcy attorney, ignored this. His phone rang and my friend immediately told him to shut off his phone. He ended his call about 20 seconds later but inadvertently left his phone on.

When it rang again, my friend's husband came out of his inner office and escorted the guy down the hall. As they were walking down the hallway it RANG AGAIN! The fellow stopped suddenly to answer the call!!!

I'm convinced that a dramatic change of values has occurred over the past 20 years. And now that young'uns are acting like selfish twits, more than a few older people, who should know better, are following suit.

What does the future hold???

This one takes the cake for me... I am a third grade teacher. I am in the middle of teaching my class when two men come in to fix a fluorescent bulb in my portable. OK- it is a distraction but I am able to keep the kids' attention and continue with our lesson. 5 minutes later, one of their cell phones ring. I expect that it has been a mistake on his part to leave his phone on in a classroom and imagine that he will ignore the call and turn it to vibrate, but instead he begins a very loud and long conversation that drowns me out! After waiting for a while I loudly told him that we would be leaving for special areas in 15 minutes and they could come back then. They look surprised and gave me a look like I had the nerve instead of them.

Answering a phone call when you are in the middle of a conversation with someone else is rude. I have had it up to here with students who take calls when I am working with them. Fucking impolite bullshit, like I have nothing better to do than wait around for their call to end. Chaps my ass big time.

Heather: That story is a winner. Unreal.

Anonymous rude cell phone moments abound here in DC, a city that epitomizes the "I'm so much more important than you" mentality. So it is the moments that involve friends or co-workers which most stand out. One day, I drove into work instead of taking the subway, so I offered a ride home to a co-worker and "social" friend who lives near me. As we were exiting the doors of our office building, her cell phone rang. She immediately picked up and began conversing with her best friend (they talk at least a couple of times a week). Their conversation continued, non-stop, for the two-block walk to the parking garage. I thought it would end once we hit the elevator and she lost the connection. But no, she re-dialed her friend immediately and resumed the conversation as soon as we got to the garage! She then proceeded to talk to her friend for the entire 4-mile trip home. When I pulled into her parking lot, she waved at me, mouthed "thank you" and jumped out of the car, still talking.

I never offered her another ride home.

Kishke, the "problem" is that so many people react to the beeps and buzzes of a phone or a PDA as if they are Pavlovian dogs - they simply must answer the call, they simply must have the conversation, and so many of them lose all sense of self-awareness or home-training. Some calls are important and need to be answered at that moment (in a manner such that everyone around isn't disturbed). Most calls simply aren't that important - the mundane details of your life can wait for a moment in the day when you aren't sharing them with an audience.

More people need to embrace the concept of voice mail and learn the phrase "I can't talk right now. Can I call you back?"

Norman, cell phone usage is prohibited in areas of the hospital where there is a potential for interference with cardiac monitering equipment. Now, I think this only pertains to older equipment and phones, but I wouldn't risk it.

My partner and I were riding on the train out of NYC once, and this nasally woman was loudly gabbing away on her cell phone for a good half hour. It wasn't especially crowded, so her voice really carried. At one point she said, "When I first met you, you were fourteen years old and had no job... nor should you have. How many people do you know who had jobs at fourteen?" The hubby and I raised our hands and the entire car immediately followed suit. We all proceeded to loudly address each other saying, "You had a job at fourteen? Me too! Get out of here, so did I! Where'd you work? Hey lady, WE ALL had jobs at fourteen!" She sheepishly laughed and dropped her voice down a few (very few) decibels. We were laughing long after she got off at her stop.

god some people have SUCH annoying voices, its likke, you think they would figure out that they shouldn't be talking loud in public at all!

Anonymous rude cell phone moments abound here in DC, a city that epitomizes the "I'm so much more important than you" mentality. So it is the moments that involve friends or co-workers which most stand out. One day, I drove into work instead of taking the subway, so I offered a ride home to a co-worker and "social" friend who lives near me. As we were exiting the doors of our office building, her cell phone rang. She immediately picked up and began conversing with her best friend (they talk at least a couple of times a week). Their conversation continued, non-stop, for the two-block walk to the parking garage. I thought it would end once we hit the elevator and she lost the connection. But no, she re-dialed her friend immediately and resumed the conversation as soon as we got to the garage! She then proceeded to talk to her friend for the entire 4-mile trip home. When I pulled into her parking lot, she waved at me, mouthed "thank you" and jumped out of the car, still talking.

You Lastly want the respect off your family and pals?

wonderful! i can tell this was crucial! excellent employment!