The ten commandments of cell phone ettiquette

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Der Alta

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DerAlta
How many have you violated?

1. Thou shalt not subject defenseless others to cell phone conversations. When people cannot escape the banality of your conversation, such as on the bus, in a cab, on a grounded airplane, or at the dinner table, you should spare them. People around you should have the option of not listening. If they don't, you shouldn't be babbling.

2. Thou shalt not set thy ringer to play La Cucaracha every time thy phone rings. Or Beethoven's Fifth, or the Bee Gees, or any other annoying melody. Is it not enough that phones go off every other second? Now we have to listen to synthesized nonsense?

3. Thou shalt turn thy cell phone off during public performances. I'm not even sure this one needs to be said, but given the repeated violations of this heretofore unwritten law, I felt compelled to include it.

4. Thou shalt not wear more than two wireless devices on thy belt. This hasn't become a big problem yet. But with plenty of techno-jockeys sporting pagers and phones, Batman-esque utility belts are sure to follow. Let's nip this one in the bud.

5. Thou shalt not dial while driving. In all seriousness, this madness has to stop. There are enough people in the world who have problems mastering vehicles and phones individually. Put them together and we have a serious health hazard on our hands.

6. Thou shalt not wear thy earpiece when thou art not on thy phone. This is not unlike being on the phone and carrying on another conversation with someone who is physically in your presence. No one knows if you are here or there. Very disturbing.

7. Thou shalt not speak louder on thy cell phone than thou would on any other phone. These things have incredibly sensitive microphones, and it's gotten to the point where I can tell if someone is calling me from a cell because of the way they are talking, not how it sounds. If your signal cuts out, speaking louder won't help, unless the person is actually within earshot.

8. Thou shalt not grow too attached to thy cell phone. For obvious reasons, a dependency on constant communication is not healthy. At work, go nuts. At home, give it a rest.

9. Thou shalt not attempt to impress with thy cell phone. Not only is using a cell phone no longer impressive in any way (unless it's one of those really cool new phones with the space age design), when it is used for that reason, said user can be immediately identified as a neophyte and a poseur.

10. Thou shalt not slam thy cell phone down on a restaurant table just in case it rings. This is not the Old West, and you are not a gunslinger sitting down to a game of poker in the saloon. Could you please be a little less conspicuous? If it rings, you'll hear it just as well if it's in your coat pocket or clipped on your belt.


I'm at 4 violations.

(PS: snagged from infoworld.com
 
Also about 4 or maybe 5 violations! :D
Nice one there Der Alta! :D
 
I'm at zero violations. My mom, however, talks annoyingly loud on the cell when she "thinks she has bad reception." I mean, what the hell? Talking louder to me and hurting my ears does not make you hear me any clearer.
 
I don't violate any of those rules, mostly because I don't like talking on the phone to begin with, and if I'm out and about, I'm probably not going to answer my phone anyway. That's what voicemail is for. And nobody is ever bothered by my ring, because the ringer is only on when I am in my home. Everywhere else, it's set on vibrate.

Let's ammend the hands-free thing. Headsets should be banned when you're just walking around. Seriously, walking does not require the use of your hands. Too many times I've passed somebody who appeared to be talking to themselves, only to finally see that tiny black clip on their ear. It always creeps me out a little bit.
 
I think I'm on zero. I rarely talk for long on the phone and I'm not particulary loud either... I think.

6 is the worst. I have seen middle aged husbands and wives walking round having conversations over each other and wondering WTF is going on only to see they both have bluetooth headsets on.
 
ExigeExcel
I6 is the worst. I have seen middle aged husbands and wives walking round having conversations over each other and wondering WTF is going on only to see they both have bluetooth headsets on.
Absolutely classic. My boss has a bluetooth that he wears constantly. This does give me an idea...!
 
I don't know how some of you have zero violations. I think I have excellent cell phone etiquette, yet I have 2 violations for sure, and another two maybes. Let me explain:

2 violations: 1)Sometimes, I do talk louder on cells, but when the other person's going "I can barely here you", it's bound to happen. 2)This one I have no excuse for. Yes, I dial when driving. I can multi-task, but they are right, it's not safe at all.

2 Maybes: 1)I sometimes have earpieces on, but only when I'm driving and am expecting a call. 2)I "slam" my cell phone on the restaurant table, but so it doesn't fall out of my "cell phone pocket". I've misplaced my phone that way many times(though I always find it).
 
Der Alta
Absolutely classic. My boss has a bluetooth that he wears constantly. This does give me an idea...!

I'll defend this a little - my dad wears one a lot when he's working, and being a realtor he's never just stuck at the office. BUT he gets call after call after call and it's just way more convenient to keep it on instead of fishing for it every single time.
 
None.

As it happens, I have NO clue where my mobile phone is right now. I haven't used it since UKGTPV, and I didn't use it since UKGTP4 before that...
 
Famine
None.

As it happens, I have NO clue where my mobile phone is right now. I haven't used it since UKGTPV, and I didn't use it since UKGTP4 before that...
God, you sound like my grandpa, who just finally got into the modern times a year ago.

As for me, while I have a cell phone, I use it once in a blue moon. So, I don't violate anything.
 
Guilty of
1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10

Damn, I have really got to get a life!

Mind you, in regards to #10, my mobile phone lives in my pocket, and it is a little uncomfortable having it in my pocket when seated, so I take it out, and lay it on the table, not slam it.
 
One violation – I’ve listened to my voicemail a couple times while driving. I’ve only done it when I’ve gotten an emergency call from home though (my mom warning me that the freeway is closed).
 
I'm at a definite zero. I don't have a phone. I know it's seriously uncool to not have a phone, but it's also seriously uncool to be wrwpped up in conversations while ignoring the people in your immediate prescence. Besides, I just use my buddy's cell.
 
Does #6 count if your phone is also an MP3 player/Radio? :confused:

If so, then i've violated one rule, but for the sake of listening to music instead of stupid people talking about stupid stuff around me.
 
None. I have a mobile, but very rarely use it.

My dad has a serious case of number 8. I think it’s so rude. Everytime we go to a restaurant or whatever, he’s always writing an SMS to someone, and not talking to me.

Sounds selfish, but why go to dinner with someone, when you want to talk to someone else?
 
Earpieces annoy the crap out of me. At work, half the time I don't know if customers are talking to me or not because they have those stupid things in. Very annoying.

You also look like a **** from the side you don't have the earpiece in because it looks like you're talking to yourself.

Also, just people in general when they ring people when they know I'm about to serve them. It's very awkward approaching a customer if they're on the phone, you don't know how they will react.
 
BMW318_DRIFTER
Earpieces annoy the crap out of me. At work, half the time I don't know if customers are talking to me or not because they have those stupid things in. Very annoying.
Oh, I hate that. Those idiots who walk upto you while he's(it's a guy, everytime) still on a phone.
 
I'm think I'm a little in violation but not much.

I do not turn my phone off during public performances. I usually put it on vibrate if I know someone is gunna call and leave the room if they do or I put it on silent and get back to whoever I miss.

I have dialed while driving but its never been more than one number as I only call the people I have on speed dial, which is mainly the first four so I never have to look at it for more than a second.
 
Oh, I nearly forgot – today I walked into the restroom at the store I work at, and some guy was sitting on the crapper and talking on his cell phone (loudly, I might add). I wonder what the guy on the other side thought when he heard me flushing?
 
Only violated one, talking while driving...I'm not a patient person. If I want to find out about something, I want to know NOW...even if that means I'm driving. :(

Now if my Taurus had a stickshift, there's no way I'd try using my phone and driving (my friend did that once, he let go of the steering wheel to shift...I was not happy riding with him doing that)
 
Im guilty of 3 or 4, I don't dial in the car because I'm not driving, but I dial on my bike . . .
 
Guilty of: Ta da! Zero. Of course, I'm too cheap to shell out for a cellphone, and there is about a 99.85% chance that the person I'm with has one. Either that, or I'm at home or a friends house (and therefore have access to a phone).
 
1 .. 1.5 .. 2'ish for me - I'm helpless though - Being self employeed, I really need to make sure my customers can get a hold of me..

In reality, I'd love to leave my cell phone at home :-(
 
keef
I'm at a definite zero. I don't have a phone. I know it's seriously uncool to not have a phone, but it's also seriously uncool to be wrwpped up in conversations while ignoring the people in your immediate prescence. Besides, I just use my buddy's cell.
TBH I find it seriously uncool to have to use your buddy's credit all the time. Occasionly one of my mates won't have credit so he'll borrow mine or someone elses mobile but usually the favour is returned.

There's little reason to not have a mobile phone today. For about £30 (Some phones are even cheaper) you can get a basic handset with credit on it. It can be handy in cases of personal emergency or for others to contact you when they need you. And you don't even have to give your number out to 'casual' callers (My nan, my mum, myself and my sisters are about the only people with his number).
 
I can think of another one or two:

a) Thou shalt not let thy phone ring solely for the purpose of listening to your ringtone, even in the (misguided) hope that someone else in the room/bus/train may be enjoying it as much as you are. Thou must answer thy phone swiftly otherwise thy phone may find a new home in thy rectum.

And related to the above...

b) Thou shalt not keep thy mobile phone in a bag so full of other junk you cannot access your phone easily or even find the thing!. This has the double-whammy effect of annoying everyone with your ringtone AND your inability to locate a object that is not only making a loud noise, but is also lit up and vibrating.
 
If Der Alta were Moses ide be made a high priest!

There is a subsection for busy european cities;

Thou shalt not Scream & Giggle Hysterically in Asian Languages in Public but Contemplative places.

This one should carry the death penalty.
 
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