I usually agree with you but sometimes I think you're a little over sensitive. Maybe you can get by with a phone on vibrate but I need to hear it or I'm going to miss the message. It's not like it's that loud or in your face. Frankly I think it's rude of you to expect me to keep my phone quiet just for you.

"Frankly I think it's rude of you to expect me to keep my phone quiet just for you."

Frankly, I think it's rude of you to assume that everyone else wants to hear your phone go off because you're such a special snowflake that you are exempt from being considerate of others.

Hey Mike; unless that call is about the life-saving kidney you've been waiting for - others don't need to hear to go off everywhere, at any time.

Who said anything about movies?

I'm talking about in general daily life. People have phones. Some times they ring. Deal with it. Try to shame me and I'll shame you back.

This is absurd

I'm talking about in general daily life. People have phones. Some times they ring. Deal with it.

We're also talking about in general daily life. Yes, people have phones. Yes, sometimes they ring. But NO, you don't have to be a douche bag about it. There's no shame in being considerate of others. The shame is in NOT knowing (and/or caring) that you're being inconsiderate of others.

Yes, Mike, SHAME on you.

Take over your attention? Seriously? That's absurd. By the same logic Amy you shouldn't go around in revealing or form fitting outfits because you will take over the attention of men who find you attractive.

It's democratic as fuck. One's expectation of private business not occurring in public spaces has ineluctably changed. Aristo ranting about the sheer proletarian banality of the canaille will not avail.

Perhaps the market will provide Casa GetOffMyLawn enclaves for those who find the transition unbearable. The rest of us, eh, tradeoffs.

New capabilities, incentives, behaviors, mores. Adapt or be left behind.

rude:democratic :: prescriptive:descriptive

I'm not arguing for rude. I'm arguing for avoiding lost causes.

Technology changes social power relations. The rise of the manufacturing classes coincided with a great efflorescence of formal etiquette, as insiders attempted to fortify their social positions. Today we speak of a comedy of manners.

These facts are independent of the relative merits of the new versus the old ways.

I agree that dropping the call in the punchbowl is rude; classy today is "excuse me, I have to take this" and taking it to a corner. But a demand that the mere fact that someone is communicating should not impinge on my pristine consciousness? Puhleez.

I believe there's a thing called a throat mike. It allows communication with very low room leakage. It's typically used to protect the speaker's privacy, not the room's. I think a campaign to encourage its gracious use to unburden the room would be as effective as one for bringing back the fish knife. But what do I know?

I could be completely wrong in my projection. If enough people are affronted by being subjected to others' business leakage, someone will, at a price, offer them a space free from such affronts. Want to bet $100, payment to winner's favorite charity, that this will happen? Or is it a lost cause?

People have phones. Some times they ring. Deal with it.

People have urine. Sometimes they pee. Is it "Democratic" if I do it down your leg, Mike?

I'm not arguing for rude. I'm arguing for avoiding lost causes.
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Trouble is, especially when it comes to child-rearing, too many parents are wimps who follow the herd and think that doing anything different is the same as supporting "a lost cause." E.g., they buy TVs and Playstations and computers - not for the family, but for the child's BEDROOM! And then they wonder why the kid doesn't like to read, has trouble with grades, is obese, and/or lacks face-to-face social skills with adults or kids with more restrictions, who are forced to use their imaginations more!

When a million people believe in a stupid, destructive idea, it's still a stupid, destructive idea.

And yes, it's still rude to bring a book OR a cellphone to the dinner table, even if "everyone" - including selfish adults - does it these days. If parents want their kids' attention and conversation at mealtimes, they have to set an example - AND they have to ignore their kids' temporary sulking over the rule.

It's bad even if you can hear both sides of a cell phone call. On an Amtrak train, I was treated to a 20- or 30-minute conversation that a dense, inefficient employee had with her IT guy. She put him on speaker. I got her full name, the IT guy's full name, the name of the respected medical school that employs them, her email address, and I learned right along with her how to set up remote access to this medical school's servers on my laptop.