I can see the problem with telemarketers or solicitation of any kind, but a blanket condemnation of all phone calls as rude?

Is testing the only acceptable method of communication?

>> they think nothing of interrupting people's days w/ phone calls. Phones are mega rude.

Absolutely! I only call my friends when I want to interrupt their day! For my close friends, I make sure to waste as much of their time as possible! And if they are busy, I just keep yammering away and they are unable to escape! They are rendered completely helpless by a lump of plastic and metal! Every single person! It is diabolical!

Even better, I am immune to its influence. Simply because I can turn the thing off when I wish to be undisturbed. If I am too busy to talk for an extended period I am able to communicate this fact politely and return to work or I am able to ignore the phone and let the answering machine get it. I obviously have super powers. The rest of you can just suffer. Preferably in silence.

Tweets can be insightful, but this one lacks context.

Answering/placing a call while completing a transaction with a cashier: rude.

Stepping out of a restaurant to take an important call: not rude.

Letting your cell phone ring, ring, ring in a public place: rude.

Hitting the don't answer button on your smart phone to silence the ring: not rude.

Context: it does a body good.

I see it every day. Kids learn it from their parents (or it goes uncorrected by the parents).

I read it and thought she hates being called and that a jangling phone in the middle of your day sucks your time. I hate it too. I'm almost phone phobic. Text or email, people.

Your ringer should never be on in public. -- Amy Alkon Author Profile Page at May 23, 2013 8:51 AM

I have to disagree with that. It should be set when appropriate for silence, such as a theater, play, etc.

My phone, set to vibrate, goes from fully charged to dead in about 6-7 hours. When in regular ring mode it is about 19 hours. And that is only 3-5 text messages and no calls.

But I do make it a point to take the conversation outside.

The excuse for keeping a cell phone on their person at all times is 'in case of emergency' by turning the ringer off isn't it like saying 'only in case of MY emergency'. If I'm stuck on the side of road with a dead car, or in another circumstance in which I need a friend's immediate help, I think it's much more rude to have your ringer turned off simply because they are in public.

My mother wanted me to be very well-read, but she would never have let me bring even a BOOK to the dining table, never mind a phone or a game (if they had existed in the 1970s).

Why can't more adults realize they shouldn't do that either, when they're with a friend or a date?