Anyone else hate cell phones?

I was at the Portland Airport a month ago with a buddy awaiting a flight. There was a guy 75 feet away we could hear every freeking word he said. People were moving away from his area to get out of the blabber. I mean everyone was looking at this guy.

While tossing my phone in my hand, I gave my buddy 'that look' and he said 'I dare you'! I went up to the guy and paced back and forth in front of him on a fake call, shouting into my phone: YES, I'M IN THE AIRPORT ON MY CELL PHONE....CAN YOU HEAR ME?....GOOD. I GOT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THAT SMITH DEAL...BLA BLA BLA for about a minute in front of this guy. People were watching me knowing what I was doing. A few were cracking up. My act did not phase this guy in the least!

Whats with all of the loud people that think EVERYONE has to hear their conversation. The day they are approved on a commercial airline flight, I'll start driving to my destinations. That will provoke some real Air Rage!

 

Pete,
I am cracking up at the image. That's hilarious!!!!
-Faisal.

 

I don't hate cell phones.


I only hate people that abuse them.

 

I love my cell phone. (ducking)

I do not, however, use it in the following places:
movies
plays
dinners
church
meetings
doctor's office
barber shop
etc.

I also know how and when to turn it off and when to silence the ringer. I am familiar with the practice of leaving the room (or building) to carry on a conversation. I do use it in the car, but only with a headset, and I generally back down my pace and get out of the fast lane during a conversation. I rely on it heavily for business. It is my main line of contact with clients, and I refuse to give it up. I am also a shameless gadget freak, and enjoy getting a new phone every 6 months or so.

The device in itself isn't inherently bad. The general public's lack of common sense and courtesy, combined with their already atrocious driving habits has given mobile phones a bad reputation.

I'm done now, carry on.

 

Classic...Reminds me of Trigger Happy TV sometimes. They usually have a guy go into a public area (restaurant, store, park, ect.) with a person-size cell phone or a tenny-tiny (could fit in the palm of a kids' hands) and he'll start yelling. Everyone watches him, pretty funny.

 

Next time, buy an i-mate sp3i. You can find them on the web, and they are at $300 or so now.

This phone is so good, you will never be able to switch to another one. All other interfaces will seem as if they are doing their best to hinder your use of the phone. The sp3i seems to know what you want to do next. When it comes to finding entries in the phone book, it uses a sort of T9 search against your phone book to zero in on who you want--generally it will find any name within 3 keypresses, and I have tested it against phonebooks with over 1,000 entries.

As for features, name *anything* and it has it. The only additional things you could ask for are a megapixel camera and those digital wallets that are becoming popular in Finland. Who cares about those?

 

I don't get it guys, I can drive my car at 100mph, maintain safe distances and navigate through traffic, while talking on my phone (usually on speaker to keep both hands free) with ease. It's just not that hard, you PRIORITIZE.

Then again, I can chew gum and walk too.



I don't hate alcahol, I hate STUPID PEOPLE WHO DRIVE IMPAIRED.

I don't hate cell phones, I hate STUPID PEOPLE WHO ARE RUDE AND DANGEROUS.

I don't hate food, I hate FAT IDOITS.

 

But Ben, you are a bad driver!

(Inside joke, everyone. Ben and I, whenever we get into an argument, just accuse each other of being drivers. Of course, nothing could be farther from the truth. We are both the world's best cell-phone-yakking-drivers. )

 

I just turned 20 today. I have had a cell phone for a total of 1 month. I cant stand the damn things and I hate mine and try to use as little as possible. I have it on all day everyday but I have gotten a total of 3 calls on it. One from my mom to see if it worked and the second two were from employers contacting to talk about my resume and possible interviews (I am currently looking for a job). Thats it.
My life must be really boring because I never call people and people rarely call me. It mainly just takes up space on my dresser. I hate the damn thing and I dont want it but it is a good thing to have in emergencies. That is one good thing about them. But thats about it.

 

I need my phone, although don't answer it much. The tow truck and dealer are programed in and it's a lot easier to find the number that way.

 

I hate cell phones.

I don't carry a cell phone, unless I am traveling on business. Even then, it is mostly turned off, unless I am checking messages or calling into my office, or I am expecting a specific call.

If I was the President of the United States, I can see how I would actually need to be accessible every minute of every day. However, I'm not the President, and I would just as soon not be at the beck and call of a cell phone. If it's really important, whoever it is will find me eventually.

There are few things I find more rude than when you are having a conversation with someone, their cell phone rings, and they answer it, and start yacking. Loud cell phone conversations in restaurants is another thing I find extremely rude.

And cell phone use while driving has got to be one of the most dangerous things you can do behind the wheel. Every time somebody carelessly changes lanes and just about crashes into me, or about rear ends me, 99% of the time, the person is on a cell phone.

 

Stupid people are everywhere, and they do stupid things with all sorts of devices. To think that some people on this board would be so rude and so selfish as to block a cell phone signal in a restaurant, simply because they don't to hear a conversation, is truly amazing.

I pay for my cell phone service. For you to disrupt it, simply because me talking to someone you can'ty hear gets your panties in a twist, is flabbergasting. For every dolt you hear screaming on his phone, there are 100 people who are not intrusive with their cell phone usage. Why screw them over simply because you are a tad bit annoyed? C'mon.

No one here has the authority to block my calls. Not that there's anything I can do about it, but think about how selfish, rude, and self-serving YOU are being by blocking possibly important calls from people whom have done nothing to bother you.

Grow up, people.

 

My only gripe with cell phones is common with many other advances in recent years (auto trans, etc.). They tend to encourage people to be even more stupid than they would normally be. There's a fine line here, because for some it is an irreplaceable tool at this point that lends itself to business deals, organizing their day, and maximizing the time they have to see their family. To others though it is another means of drowning out their stupidity by means of listening to their gums flap. And that feeds on itself, because maybe in those 30min in the car they would have stumbled across a relatively coherent thought that might have added to their life. Instead they fumbled through a conversation about shoe colors while rendering the two lane Garden State Parkway inoperable to anyone wanting to exceed 60mph.

That said, I like mine, but my conversations are usually like 45 seconds. Buzz Buzz "I just got home from work, come over." "Alright, gimme like twenty minutes." Click. It's nice when friends leave drunken messages to know that mom and sis aren't gonna hear their slurred rendition of louie louie too. Also, when you're dating that girl who feels compelled to tell you her entire day every night at 10pm it's also nice to not tie up the house line. And I rarely talk while driving (another reason why all cars should be manual). I'd say in the end the pros outweigh the cons, but it really wouldn't break my heart if tomorrow I woke up and they were all gone.

 

Think about how selfish, rude, dangerous, and stupid talking on a cell phone is while controlling a 2,000lb+ object at a high rate of speed and be able to give DRIVING your unfocused attention.

We need to grow up, you need to wise up. I generally agree with what you have to say but you're completely off on this one.

You do not have a right to endanger me while on the surface streets or highways simply because you want to drive and do other things at the same time.

Sunny

 

I'm not talking about driving. Even if I were, I'd venture to guess that a large number of people (myself included) are capable of having a conversation while driving on the freeway. I'd also venture to guess that you, like nearly everyone else, engages in activities other than driving when behind the wheel. If you don't, I apologize. But if you want to rant about people on phones while driving, you'll have to rant about people talking to passengers when driving, people eating when driving, people drinking coffee when driving, and people smoking when driving. Holding a cell phone to your ear and talking is really no different than having one arm hanging out an open window and talking to a passenger while driving.

Regardless, my response was in regards to the complaints about phones in restaurants. Until some zealous politician enacts some draconian law limiting conversations in public places, no one has a right to block anyone else's phone calls. I'm baffled that people would actually consider doing it for whatever reason.

 

****: I think you have some of your facts wrong. The person talking on the cellphone while driving is not just chatting, they are also staring at the phone, inputting data into it, and reading text from it, all while guiding an overweight car or truck on a highway often at speeds in excess of 70mph. I cannot tell you how many times i've almost been slammed into by distracted drivers dialing cellphones and wandering into my lane. They do not have a right to put me into danger, and it is, at least in NY, unlawful to operate a handheld phone while driving.
As to restaurants, and the like, it is annoying, and people who operate the phones conspicuously and loudly are rude, but there are settings where it is more, and less, tolerable. I wouldn't be able to complain about noisy cellphone use in a McDonalds, since the expectations there are little better than a public restroom (let's not talk about sanitary conditions). But, if i am sitting in a fine restaurant, for dinner, i am not interested in hearing ring tones, or cellphone chat of any sort. If someone is that important, they should have an assistant handling calls out of earshot, and discreetly summon their principal to the phone, away from the tables, if the call is so vital.
Likewise, if a doctor or other person on call receives a call in such an environment, i'm tolerant, because that's their job, and that's life.
But, the vast majority of folks that i encounter in close proximity to me who have phones ringing at restaurants seem to have very little concern for the people around them- their phone use is rude (from the loud ringtone which announces it), to their not excusing themselves to go to a private area outside the dining room to conduct a call, to the sheer idiocy i'm forced to hear as they sit next to me, talking at indiscreet volumes.

Then, again, maybe you are more tolerant than me. But free speech has its limits and so do cell phones.

Btw, any reason for anonymity?

 

Exactly my point. You just made it a lot more clearly and concise.

Thanks.

 

Bill, well said!

I change volume or switch the head unit to another CD mounted in the changer in the trunk or change the climate control. The rest is driving.

I don't eat or drink in my car. I don't look over and oogle people at stop lights. I'm looking at my surroundings. What is currently moving in lanes, what is behind me, what is in front of me, where pedistrians are, what my guages look like. On the highway I'm keeping a cushion in front, behind, and to the side.

I'm not doing this if I'm talking on a phone. Neither are you; what guarantees can you offer me? None, thats the point and why cell phones are outlawed elsewhere.

Like it or not, cell phones and vehicles are more dangerous and I'm not "draconian" enough to put a blocker in my car but I won't cry if your conversation gets interrupted by someone else who does.

For the record, I will talk on a cell phone when reporting an emergency and I hang up quickly, irritated if its a non-emergency.

In fact, when I lost my company/personal cell phone after having it for years, I didn't replace it.

But, my friends thought differently. They got me a cell phone and I still hate talking on it unless I'm not moving or its a non emergency. Edit: I don't even know what the phone number is, I called someone to tell me what it was so I could give it to an F-chatter.

Sunny

 

I'm not condoning cell phones while driving. I'm just stating that people do other dangerous activities while driving, and if we are going to outlaw cell phones, we need to outlaw a bunch of other stuff as well.

And trust me, I get annoyed by loud, rude, and noisy people on cell phones as well. But I also get annoyed by loud, rude, and noisy people not on cell phones. I get annoyed by a lot of things. Our government, however, was not and is not designed to keep us from being annoyed. Freedom of speech does not end simply when someone is annoyed or cannot enjoy a dinner to it's fullest extent.

If someone is being rude in a restaurant, it is the responsibility of the restaurant managment to curtail it by either not allowing cell phones in the dining area or by asking rude patrons to leave. It is not the responsibility of the diners around to block a service that is being paid for and is legal.

I get annoyed by a ton of things. But I tend to think that my level of annoyance would rise dramatically if citizens around me decided to enact their own rules into areas which they have no authority.

I'd love to block cell phones in certain areas. But given the chance, I wouldn't do it. I don't have the right to do so, and sadly (but rightly so) people do have a right to be rude.

No need for anonymity. Just thought 4-stars was a fairly uncommon name.

 

I applaud your driving practices. Virtually no one else is as discliplined (I do a lot of driving, and rarely do I see people zeroed in on driving and nothing else), but if you are, dandy.

But let me ask you a question: say I'm annoyed by the fumes your Jaguar puts out. Say I invent a device that can disrupt your PCM's communications with your engine. Say I turn the device on and make it impossible for you to drive, simply because I'm annoyed by the fumes your car puts out.

Would you cry for yourself? I tend to think that potentially poisionous gasses are more of a hazard than a rude person on a phone, don't you?

 

Cell phones are at the top of the list of the worst things you can do while driving. I don't think that makes much of a case to ban other things unless you are willing to cite why.

Sunny

 

I think 4Star's point is simply that 'we' (the collectively 'annoyed') do not have the right to take the law into our own hands. And, in principle, i agree.
But, much of what we are talking about here is the unlawful operation of a vehicle (at least in my state) while using a hand-held cell phone. Sunny is not alone in his driving discipline. I am also one who believes that when i am driving, that is the most important thing; calls (I almost never initiate them in a car when driving and when i receive one, i rarely stay on the phone, other than to ask the caller if I can return the call when I stop) and cellphone operation while driving are dangerous. The vast majority of drivers seem to ignore the law here, and even those driving obviously expensive luxo-barges with the built-in facility for hands-free driving seem to insist on using a hand-held phone.
The issue, though, goes beyond rudeness or annoyance. These folks are a menance to society. What's a good citizen to do, other than to report them to the constabulary, wait for them to crash into someone, or blow by them, hoping they won't maim or injure anyone you care about?
What if a person who was clearly not in full possession of their senses (drunk, or high on drugs) was behind the wheel of a fast moving car? Do you really think this is just about etiquette?

N.B. My reference to "facility for hands-free driving " was obviously meant to refer to hands-free telephony while driving, but i'll leave the misstatement as i wrote it.

 

I was going to say that cell phones rank right up there with sex and alcohol for worst driving distractions.

No, I don't. You're statements are beginning to lose their rationale/composure.

You're mouth is not exactly connected to my tailpipe. The person on the cell phone has a fully functional vehicle able to make an emergency maneuver. My vehicle wouldn't be able to, therefore I believe that what you propose is even worse than being on the phone.

Like I said, what guarantees do you or other people offer non-cell phone users that you can talk on the phone and drive accordingly when the statistics show that most people can't? None.

No one has a right to invade the privacy of another by either listening in or blocking their conversation.

However, we fail to agree that just because your right to talk on a cell phone isn't outlawed while driving doesn't make it right. Lets just leave it at that.

Sunny

 

I don't know how this veered off into cell phones while driving (I was originally trying to point out the immorality of blocking cell phones in public places), but here goes:

1. Eating a burger on the road. Takes one hand, burgers can be sloppy and messy, napkins are required, attention is diverted from driving to eating without spilling on yourself.

2. Driving with noisy children in the back seat. Noisy kids can be incredibly distracting; they can scream, yell, throw toys around, start hitting each other, etc etc. Huge distraction.

3. Reading a map while driving: lots of people do it, and it requires looking at something entirely different than the road for prolonged periods of time.

4. Tuning a radio while driving. Unless you've got steering-wheel mounted controls (which a vast majority of people don't), you've got to remove a hand from the steering wheel, divert your attention to the radio, and find the station you want.

From what I know, the California CHP ranks eating as the most dangerous think one can do while driving. In fact, there are about three CHP sponsored billboards along the I15 to Vegas stating as much.

Look, I'm not saying it is safe, nor am I saying we should freely do it. But I am saying that people do a lot of stupid things while driving, and cell phones happen to be on everyone'***** list currently.

13 million people live in LA and its surrounding areas. Millions and millions of those people drive on the freeways daily. Assume we've got 8 millions cars daily on LA roads each day, and assume a high number of 200 accidents/day on the freeway (I don't think it's anywhere near that number, but let's go with it anyways). Assume, again highly, that 50% of those 200 are caused by cell phones. That makes 100 accidents out of 8,000,000 drivers. That means that .0000125% of daily LA drivers are at risk from cell phones. This is not to say that accidents are OK in any way, but that's a tiny tiny tiny number.

 

That's because we've gotten lost in our discussion. I'm not comparing driving while talking to car emissions, I'm comparing the annoyance caused by cell phones in public places with the annoyance caused by car emissions. Somehow, the discussion has gotten tangled up, and for that, I apologize.

What I was trying to say is this: You don't mind if someone else suffers at the hands of a vigilante acting out of annoyance, but I would venture to guess that you would care if a different vigilante acted out against you because you may have inadvertantly annoyed him.

Sorry for the confusion!