Turning it off: a reminder of cell phone etiquette in public places

By Anisha D. Seals
The Collegian

A FRIEND AND I were sitting in church and the pastor instructed us to open our Bibles to a scripture.

In the middle of the reading, a voice from a lady’s purse began to belt out the tunes to “My Girl” by the Temptations.

Yes, it was her blasted cell phone interrupting the sermon.

I probably stared at her so hard that I could have burned a hole through the side of her head.

Although “My Girl” is a beautiful song and I would have loved to sing along, it should be common knowledge that cell phones need to be silenced during church services, meetings, classes, etc.

She may have forgotten to silence hers, so maybe I should have eased up.

Unfortunately, many situations like this regularly occur and the lack of cell phone etiquette is beginning to grate on my nerves.

People are so occupied by their cell phones and their many functions.

It seems as though lacking common sense is an epidemic at an all time high.

Either people are oblivious to their surroundings or they don’t care, but poor cell phone etiquette must come to a screeching halt.

No matter where I go, there’s always a select few who are disturbingly attached to their mobile devices.

I was dining at Red Lobster with another friend, and a couple sitting behind me must have been suffering from the same epidemic as the lady in church.

This time was a bit more extreme.

The boyfriend was obviously calling the girlfriend’s oh–so omnipresent T-Mobile Sidekick because he wanted to listen to her ring tone.

Here’s a word of advice: If your cell phone rings so loud that people in a crowded and already-noisy restaurant turn and look at you from across the room, you may want to decrease the volume.

For at least 20 seconds, this guy was so engrossed in listening to this irritating ring tone that he failed to realize that there were at least three groups of people glaring at him.

The song finally ended, and I proceeded to enjoy the rest of my succulent garlic shrimp.

I think that there should be a social change regarding this situation.

I’m not talking about a revolution or the burning of cell phones as women once did with their bras.

I’m talking about accepting the fact that your life doesn’t have to revolve around your cell phone.

I can assure you that if you happen to leave it at home, or in the car, your life will go on.

I’ve heard people say, “Well, I need it in case of an emergency.”

With the exception of someone choking like Pierce Brosnan in “Mrs. Doubtfire”, I don’t think an emergency situation will occur in Red Lobster.

I can promise you that the lobsters will not break the bands around their claws and come after us. Who would you call anyway?

No matter what, that does not justify someone loudly playing a Broadway musical at a restaurant, or a 50’s singing group interrupting the pastor.

It comforts me that I’m not the only one that feels this way.

Dan Briody, from inforworld.com, wrote an article called, “The Ten Commandments of Cell Phone Etiquette”.

To those of you that feel like I’m talking directly to you, put your cell phones down and log on.

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