Cell Phone Etiquette

[Perry]

Cell Phone Ettiquette

Is it an oxy-moron? I'm becoming ever-increasingly dismayed
with the progressive erosion of any semblance of politeness,
consideration, tact, courtesy, etc., with cell phone use.

I've seen people meeting for meals, who then put their cell
phone on the table, like a glass or cutlery! Few - if any even
remotely look like they're on-call fire-fighters or medics.

How do you manage yours? The poll allows for multiple
answers.

[Marc]

I am quite happy with myself as I have slowly taught my mates and clients not to call me on the mobile.

I hate the thing and these days only use it for emergencies.

I find people answering the mobile in business meetings the most disrespectful thing and will have a low opinion of the person going forward.

In social groups - I don't care but if they start texting in front of me I normally cut the meeting short with some excuse.

I am also getting very interested in the Slow Food movement as well - getting back to basics.

Cheers

marc

[CJ]

I've seen people meeting for meals, who then put their cell
phone on the table, like a glass or cutlery! Few - if any even
remotely look like they're on-call fire-fighters or medics.

For guys without hand bags (man bags) I can see the reason for this. It doesn't mean they have to answer it.

My phone is always on silent, I will screen calls, and always excuse myself if I think I should take it.

I only put the volume on if I am expecting an urgent call (though I normally just hold it in my hand (especially if it is in a pub situation).

[Perry]

I've seen people meeting for meals, who then put their cell
phone on the table, like a glass or cutlery! Few - if any even
remotely look like they're on-call fire-fighters or medics.

For guys without hand bags (man bags) I can see
the reason for this.

The worst offenders I've seen are women.
Blokes clothing usually has more pockets, too.

[CJ]

The worst offenders I've seen are women.

That is because they can never find anything in their handbags - and they thought that Hadron Collider in Switzerland was going to produce a black hole.

Blokes clothing usually has more pockets, too.

With the trend towards skinny jeans (no I don't have a pair) nothing fits in your pockets. I find it a bit uncomfortable in suit pants. For those lucky enough to wear comfy cargo pants, it is another story.

[Heg]

I turn mine off. Or (shock horror!!) have even been known to leave it at home if we are going out for the evening. I find it very rude to have dinner with someone who has their phone on the table ('on' or 'off' - makes no difference)

Surely people can survive a few hours without the need to take a call. Parents have no excuses either. Go back to the 'olden' days and leave the babysitter the number of the restaurant or wherever.

[Perry]

I turn mine off. Or (shock horror!!) have even been known to leave it at home if we are going out for the evening.

Or just leave it in the car! Easy to check for
missed calls or SMS texts, after dinner.

[sarahk]

If I was out to dinner etc I'd probably leave it on incase the babysitter needed me, because I'm still at that stage. I get few calls on my mobile so if anyone called me it would likely be

• problem with the babysitter
• medical drama with elderly parent
• technical drama with client

and I'd want all those calls.

With caller id you can always just hit ignore if it's social and inappropriate.

I've got a Sanyo phone and what does amuse me is that even if I have my phone on vibrate or silent I still get a cacophony for text messages so it does get turned off in church!

Parents have no excuses either. Go back to the 'olden' days and leave the babysitter the number of the restaurant or wherever.

The one time we have actually had a drama we'd done just that. Our reliable and competent 14 year old neighbour was in charge and we'd headed up the road to dinner. Kids started vomiting and the sitter called us and the restauranter refused to find us. By the time we got home the beds had been changed so many times we'd run out of linen and the sitter had called her Mother over to help. The kids were sleeping soundly on the sofa wrapped in blankets oblivious to the fact that the other was sick too.

[Perry]

Baby-sitter contact is something quite different
and I can't imagine anyone being put out about
an 'emergency' call of that nature.

Another factor is voicemail. If one's set-up is
such, a turned-off cell phone may mean the
cost of a return call, when turned back on.

Voicemail on a cell phone seems an absurdity,
to me. The whole point of cell phone communication
is immediacy. So while I have it for a land line,
I choose to have none on my cell phones.

[cube]

Meeting rules - if your cell phone disturbs the meeting, you buy cake for the next meeting.

In a customer service situation, the only exception is if you state that you are expecting a call before the meeting starts.

cube

[sarahk]

Cake yummmmm

So you turn a colleagues phone on and arrange for someone to call them?

[NESW]

I rarely give out my mobile number. I just don't see it as an appropriate form of contact for day to day stuff which can wait until I am back in the office or at home.

But I do think its appropriate for people to have them these days in cases of emergencies. I wouldn't like to think of my mother or daughter broken down on the side of the road and approaching someone's home to use their phone for help.

Too many nutters about these days with big chips on their shoulders.

[BusyLizzy]

In a customer service situation, the only exception is if you state that you are expecting a call before the meeting starts.

I had a first meeting with a woman from a company that we were looking at doing business with (via my place of work). She had flown down from Auckland that morning, and at our initial meeting (where we met each other for the first time), she put her phone on the table, and sure enough, within 10 mins it rang. But rather than silence it, she just excused herself and took the call. When she came back, she explained that it was an 'important client'. So what were we?!?!

Very rude, I thought.

I also get annoyed with people that take social calls during dinners, spend their time texting, etc very rude. It's basically saying 'you are not as important to me as the person on the other end of the phone'.

Bah humbug!!

I also turn mine on silent when I get together with friends, am in a meeting or whatever. If I forget to, I silence it as soon as it rings rather than answer it. At work, I put it on an extra quiet standard ringtone so if I happen to walk away and it rings, it doesn't bug the beejuzus out of everyone in the office!

[sarahk]

I was sitting round a dinner table after having takeaways with the kids and we were drinking and chatting and generally chilling out. My friend was texting throughout and I was getting a bit narked so I said flippantly "catching up with your boyfriend?" and she replied, ever so casually, "no, it's just Suzie" and I thought nothing more of it. An hour or so later the husbands had wandered off and she grabbed me and blurted out the sordid tale - it had been a boyfriend! And she'd been texting him right under her husband's nose.

Is there an etiquette for affairs?

[Perry]

It's basically saying 'you are not as important to me as the
person on the other end of the phone'.

Bah humbug!!

You have it nailed in one! There is no presence higher than the
present presence - if you see what I mean?

Years ago, my mum exhorted me to call in for lunch, whenever.
(They were in the town where worked - I lived in the next town,
20+ minutes, down-the-line.)

I did two visits and stopped. Later, mum asked what had happened.
As kindly as I could, I said it had become obvious to me that the
midday 'soapie' was more important than I was, so why would
I bother to continue?

My father would sit there, staring over my shoulder at the the Frumps
& The Feckless, while the goddam volume was near blasting me out
of my chair! And they had a VCR!!!

Social graces? Whazzat?