Amy, you could "pnk" me anytime.

(What does "pnk" me mean?)

Seriously though, that would be really nice.

You needed to make a rainbow and fart glitter for that guy. I guess by "polite" he means not having the gumption to follow up with any action.

He was one of the 'special' people who are above the rules.
Rules are for us little people.
Lines in the parking lots are for us little people.
Counting how many things in your cart before you get in the 'express' line...for us little people.
I could do this all day.

Amy, this might be a line of inquiry for your iRadio show: how the perception of the public, that they as individuals matter less and less with the passage of time, makes some feel entitled to more.

I'm an optimist, which means i assume people are good by default. I don't regret wasting my limited reserves of Nice on folks who turn out to be rude; I start out politely because of who I am.

Once they set the bar lower, i can usually hit the gutter running and splashing, absence of children permitting.

i simply join in the call, commenting on the flow of conversation and suggesting replies, etc, until such time as the person in question loses their temper and inevitably says something along the lines of "this is a private conversation".

that's when i point out that, if it was really supposed to be private, they would take it away from the general public, such as myself, and not have to worry about my participation.

it has w*rked every time, so far. %-)

Cell phone guy sounds like one of those people who, when you've just met them, asks to borrow $20, and then you never see them again, so it's probably worth it.

Cell phones make some people utterly stupid. It is both annoying and amusing to behold.

Last week I saw the lady walking across the parking lot, eyes glued to her phone, completely stop... right in front of the cars trying to drive. And she remained oblivious while she texted or played a crucial bit of farmville whatever. Moron.

Or the person in the grocery store that was on the phone the entire time with someone telling them what to buy. Generally I prefer a list.

Or the person that never disconnects. Ever.

People are addicted to the devices.

I was driving through Ann Arbor on Friday in a great big work van - like, blocks-out-the-sun big. I was driving through an intersection in the heart of downtown, with a green light, and a typical, entitled, self-absorbed Ann Arborite commences to cross the street right under my bumper. Silly-a** Peruvian bobble hat with the dingleberries, earbuds, head down, she never even looked up or broke stride.

The secret of my work van is that it has twin 24" air horns under the hood. It sounds like the 8.23 freight is coming through. I leaned on the loud button and she literally jumped in the air. It says 'Dodge' on the front of the van, and Dodge she did. And then she runs up to the driver's window and yells at me 'You're f**king RUDE, you know that?'

People are looking from blocks away. The horns are really loud.

'Yes', says I,'but you're alive. I could have been polite and squashed you flat. My rudeness is cancelled out by your complete inability to pay attention to what the h**l you're doing.' The light was red by this time, so I had time to talk. And now I was louder than her - a lot louder. People were pulling up chairs for a better view.

'You have the situational awareness of a Bartlett pear' says I, 'and it's me that's rude for saving your a** from yourself? Kiss my chrome-plated a**, lady - how'dyou like that for rude?'

Sometimes rude is just rude. But other times, rude is actually another word for stupid, and stupid in a special way - like in Ann Arbor - where people think that they somehow have a special dispenastion to do stupid things and everyone else should learn to deal with it. The second type needs to be corrected just as positively as the first.

llater,

llamas

@LauraGr--

I'll bet your gal also commits my favorite cell crime--backing out of a parking space while on the phone.

I always watch in horror/fascination, making mental notes of the plate and make/model of the car just in case I need to be a witness.

"I actually believe it has more to do with what I concluded in I See Rude People, based on anthropological data..."

Granted.

But check the math. As population rises, the number of "cells" of familiarity goes up, and the forced interaction between strangers does too. That's another thing Heinlein pointed out: I'm not in danger from my neighbors, you're not from yours, but we are from each others'.

And never before has the fantasy of being somewhere else been fulfilled so immediately by a variety of devices as it is today. We don't have to talk to anyone, those bastards all stink anyway; we can surf portable devices and be alone in crowds.

To fuel the fire, the layman is told repeatedly how horrible the world is by media who compete for ear time and eyeballs. It never occurs to the hapless audience that the sixteen horror stories on the news tonight are all amplified versions of the output of one reporter.

Americans are being poisoned by carb-heavy diets. Adult-onset diabetes and heart diseases abound. Why wouldn't you think that American spirit is being similarly poisoned by a steady diet of bad and trivial "news"?

I actually believe it has more to do with what I concluded in I See Rude People, based on anthropological data -- that we're rude because we live in societies too big for our brains (we're around strangers all the time, and strangers can take advantage of us in a way people who know us can't and won't.

Had that guy known me, he NEVER would have behaved that way.

Overall, we are probably more inclined to be rude to people we don't know, but some individuals are well-mannered while others aren't. I see people who are rude as being more self-centered than those who are not and I believe the main reason they are more self-centered is that they never fully grew out of the it's-all-about-me focus that a child naturally has.

You could have invited the cell phone Neanderthal to be on tonight's show. That would have been interesting :)

Neanderthal? More like emo douchebag, by the sounds of it. Hope Joe helped him end his call with much discomfort.

"Americans are being poisoned by carb-heavy diets. Adult-onset diabetes and heart diseases abound. Why wouldn't you think that American spirit is being similarly poisoned by a steady diet of bad and trivial "news"?"

Way down in Dixie our cracker-eating crackers are going crackers.

Yes, it's ridiculous, but think of what's at steak!

Epicness.

Is this an echo chamber, or are differing opinions allowed? We'll just see....

I will stipulate that some people can be distracted, or talk too loudly on a cell phone, but that is not the norm. Most people can and do speak quietly into a cell phone at a conversational tone.

I think stores that post a "no cell phone" policy do a disservice to their customers. They are run by people that buy into the notion that having a conversation with a friend or family member can only be sanctioned if both sides of the conversation can be overheard.

A cafe is a place where people go to enjoy a food/drink while talking to friends/family. It should not matter to anyone if the table next to you has one actual participant and one virtual participant. If it does, you need to learn to MYOB.

The rudest person in the exchange is the author of this blog. She took it upon herself to interrupt a private conversation. If the store owner wants to ignore the violation (perhaps this caller was following the implicit sub-rule: if you do, please do so quietly), then why is it the author's business?

@virtualfreedom - Perhaps you would like to reread the description of the incident: Person standing next to another person while having a cell phone conversation? Perhaps not terribly rude when being quiet. However, when informed of no cell phone policy, responding with "I don't care"? Rude in spades. That reeks of entitlement mentality, coupled with a direct expression of having no consideration for others.

If you have read more than one article here, you can easily see that dissenting opinions are allowed, but good grief, this one was pretty cut and dried, unless you're calling Amy a liar, too.

I read all the article here - been a fan for awhile. I just happen to disagree with cellphone zealots.

You say:
"Person standing next to another person while having a cell phone conversation? Perhaps not terribly rude when being quiet. "

Exactly - in fact not rude at all. Substitute cell phone for companion - same volume, twice the density of noise, and nobody would think twice about it. But because the person is using a cell phone versus speaking directly to the person, he is somehow invading your space? It is irrational to think this way, so I have to attribute it to emotion versus intellect. What is it about cell phone usage that makes Amy emotional and therefore rude?

And as to the reaction of "I don't care"? I give full credit to this poor man for such a non aggressive approach. Most people would be livid at the temerity of someone acting like a tattletale little sister to them when they have not been properly introduced. This man was having a private conversation - and it could have been an important one. It is always rude to interrupt a private conversation.

The most polite thing we can all do is simple: MYOB.

A few things

If it were private she wouldnt have heard him

People who see private buisness policys and choose to ignore them are assholes

Private != secret. Again substitute phone for 2nd person, and if hearing 2 sides is not troubling, then you are being irrational. People ignore stupid rules, laws, policies all the time - it's the proper response, and should be the universal response.

Wow, rude indeed. Find a mirror for some great inputs into the next revision of said book.

Can 1 person speak, and 2nd deaf mute person use sign language in return?

Can the 6 year old girl next to you have a one-sided conversation with her imaginary friend?

What if person A is speaking English, and person B responds in Klingon?

I'm not sure how we all survive these situations. Apparently they are driving us to irrationality!

This blog spends a great deal of space doing good work in rallying people to exercise freedom, fight back against pedants, and think and act independently. It has inspired me to do just that (here).