Home / Commentary, Technology / Out, damned cell phone! out, I say!

Out, damned cell phone! out, I say!

I think Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 1 properly reflects my feelings towards cell phone use in public. I have commented before on the pervasive use of cell phones in public and the abuses that are inflicted on people from the improper, thoughtless use of them. This view was reinforced yet again when I visited my Doctor’s office for an appointment. Despite a sign prominently displayed in the waiting room requesting that all cell phones be turned off, almost everyone in the room was using their cell phone. There are few things worse than being an unwilling listener to a one-sided, inane conversation.

The only saving grace is that now it appears that many people are text messaging or surfing the web on their cell phones rather than talking on them. While not as bothersome as someone talking on their cell phone, it still bothers me that people choose to use their cell phones despite public admonitions that their cell phones not be used. Signs often appear at checkouts in stores asking that people not be talking on their cell phones while transacting with the clerk or sales person. Yet despite signs like this people still jabber away on their phones.

Even people that you would think would know better still refuse to turn off their cell phones or put them on vibrate in meetings, despite requests at the start of the meetings that they be turned off. It seems that a cell phone rings in almost every meeting I attend, even in church board meetings.

The fascination that some people exhibit with their cell phones is another interesting phenomenon. I have watched people who seem unable to not use their cell phone. I often will see people constantly check their cell phone, never putting it away or seeming to be unable to take their eyes off it. It is almost like smoking in that it seems to comfort them when it is in their hands and they become agitated and nervous whenever they are not using it.

I find cell phones very useful and I have one myself. But I have never come close to using my minutes up and do not have a data plan and do not text message. I often leave my cell phone in my truck when I go somewhere in public. And if I do have my cell phone and I am in a meeting I will turn it off. If I go somewhere and I am asked to turn off my cell phone I do it. I know that a lot of other people who have cell phones are as courteous with them as I am but for those who are not, to quote Macbeth:

Out, damned cell phone! out, I say!

Comments