RSSEveryone but you is being rude with their mobile gadgets
By Angela Gunn | Published June 19, 2009, 7:24 AM
Self-awareness, etiquette and Internet polling probably shouldn't even appear in the same sentence, but now and then they combine for a good laugh. For instance, Intel this week revealed the results of an online poll they commissioned from the pollsters at Harris Interactive, which asked 2,160 US adults about behavior -- theirs and other people's -- on their mobile phones and other devices one uses in public.
The study defined various alleged etiquette breaches ranging from speaking too loudly on phone calls to being rude to cashiers (by chattering during a transaction) and texting in the presence of others. Some so-called faux pas were the sort of thing it's hard to fathom people actually doing (using a laptop in a public restroom, really?).
82% of those surveyed said they'd seen someone behaving badly in public while using a mobile device, with over half (56%) complaining about people using poor etiquette in restaurants and cafes, 47% spotting mishaps at concerts and movies, and stores tripping up 41%. And 26% are seeing bad mobile behaviors in restrooms.
Some complaints aren't just fussing, but reasonable concern. 72% of those surveyed said their biggest "etiquette" annoyance was with drivers who text or type while the car is hurtling along. 63% don't like it when people nearby speak loudly on phones, and 55% would rather you not discuss personal or gross stuff around them. 54% also said they didn't care for people texting or typing in front of them, but your reporter suggests that those people haven't yet experienced what true rudeness is. (And if confronted, she's apt to show them.)
Human self-awareness being an inconstant phenomenon, a remarkable number of adults claimed they never, ever do such terrible things. Just 28% admit to discussing private matters in public, while only 38% say they've texted or typing in the company of others.
Maybe we should all just cut each other some slack. (Except for the restroom people.) In a commentary concerning the survey results, Genevieve Bell, an Intel Fellow and cultural anthropologist who studies technology and culture, said that we're all still figuring it out. "We have more and more technology in our lives -- much of it in our handbags, backpacks, and pockets as well as our homes, offices and even cars. It is hardly surprising that we are still working out what is socially appropriate and what isn't -- we are still developing our techno-etiquettes," she said.
I have a window sticker that sums it up. It says "HANG UP AND DRIVE!"
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|I often wonder if cell phones will go down in history as the only invention with a prominent spot in both lists: the best and the worst that ever happened to society.
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|I always love the ones who smoke and talk on the phone while driving...or should I say, riding.
There are a lot of blissful (ignorance is bliss, I've been told) using mobile phones. They've often oblivious, so how would they know that they're not being rude?
Really, I don't want to know what colour your wife's stool is. Either go home to see it or have her flush the toilet. Trying to eat in a restaurant while hearing such talk is ridiculous.
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|Agreed 100% on the driving bit, as for the restaurant, you'd hear the same conversation if she were there with him. If you don't like people talking in public...don't leave the house. ;)
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|It's a lot less likely they'd discuss it when they're both in a restaurant because they wouldn't want to upset their own meal or give away somewhat private details. However, after working at a hospital, I know that almost anything can be discussed without a pause.
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|*shrug*
Like I mentioned to the other guy, it's there, even without the cell-phones. We;ve just learned to tune out the idiots not using cell phones. Hopefully we'll be able to tune these guys out soon as well. ;)
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|Yes. Cut the rest of us some slack... put down your damn phone and pay attention to what you're doing. I'm sick to death of all of the loud, inane jabbering I'm subjected to while shopping, waiting in line, checking out, eating dinner, at the movies... Unless you're having some kind of emergency it's just rude behaviour.
There used to be these things called Phone Booths... they had a door that closed not just to provide privacy to the user... but to keep your pointless phone conversations from intruding into the rest of our lives.
Newsflash folks... you're not in the Cone of Silence, and the rest of us don't want to hear you flapping your gums and yelling into your phone 'cuz you only got 2 bars. You don't need to be in touch 24-7... despite what the telecom conglomerates tell you.
Introducing the Cell-Helmet! Make and take calls in total privacy wearing the stylish Cell-Helmet. The visor flips up when you're forced to speak with someone in your physical proximity. Aside from privacy, the Cell-Helmet increases reception by concentrating cell-radiation all sround your cranium, minimizing the posibility of brain damage just on one side.
Now if we could only do something about the screaming babies?
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|Heh....beautiful. :)
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|"Yes. Cut the rest of us some slack... put down your damn phone and pay attention to what you're doing. I'm sick to death of all of the loud, inane jabbering I'm subjected to while shopping, waiting in line, checking out, eating dinner, at the movies... Unless you're having some kind of emergency it's just rude behaviour."
How is it *any* different from them "jabbering inanely" to the person next to them?
Public places, bucko. People are *doing* things in them. ...even talking.
Shop @ midnight if you can't handle it.
"Now if we could only do something about the screaming babies?"
How about you, oh...I don't know...deal with it? Kids have been around since the dawn of man. You're just going to have to get used to it, or get used to disappointment.
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|"How is it *any* different from them "jabbering inanely" to the person next to them?"
It's usually VERY different... and that's the point. It's not about what they are saying or even the fact that they are talking... but the loud and in many cases obnoxious behavior that goes with it. When people in public are speaking together and a third party becomes involved (like a waiter, waitress, or a checkout person) the third party is usually addressed in a considerate manner... however when someone is in a public place, loudly speaking into their phone (typically about private matters) most interaction with the outside world is reduced to hand gestures, facial expressions, or exasperated curt statements... as if the outside world is interrupting their private conversation. I've even witnessed these self-important nimrods hold up other customers in line while they conclude a conversation... usually about nothing. It's rude.
I also object to people who insist on continually making and taking calls in an eating establishment like it's their personal office. How about if I start eating lunch in his office while he tries to work? The suggestion of the article is to 'just cut them some slack' for they know not what they do. Baloney... these folks feel a grand sense of entitlement because no one has called them to task over their poor behavior.
"Kids have been around since the dawn of man."
Yeah, back in the good old days, the family would go down to the local watering hole together and if the kids got too loud and out of control some large carnivore would zero in on them and eat them... and sometimes their parents too! but enough waxing nostalgic...
I like the "Shopping at midnight" idea... it cuts down on the sheer number of potential cell phone abusers... but nearly everyone has a cell so chances are you still might run into one. Of course... a larger percentage of callees are asleep... so they'll have no one to call but their drug dealer... and there's a bonus too... way fewer babies! Brilliant! :-D
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|"but the loud and in many cases obnoxious behavior that goes with it. When people in public are speaking together and a third party becomes involved (like a waiter, waitress, or a checkout person) the third party is usually addressed in a considerate manner... however when someone is in a public place, loudly speaking into their phone (typically about private matters) most interaction with the outside world is reduced to hand gestures, facial expressions, or exasperated curt statements... as if the outside world is interrupting their private conversation."
Funny... I was out at a local restaurant just yesterday and experienced almost exactly that...from the waitress. (And no, she wasn't ont he phone)
Point being, rude people are rude, their phone etiquette is just one example. More than likely, they'd be rude without it as well. Many people seem to feel there is a wall of silence around their tables. I heard several conversations yesterday morning that I can't help but believe were *private* discussions.
I'm led to believe that this is one of those, "you see what you want to" things. The cell-phone jabbering idiots are plainly visible to you and you ignore the non-cell phone jabbering idiots (probably out of rote more than anything else...) Nothing wrong with that, one would simply wish to be able to tune them *all* out instead of just the "normal" idiots. ;)
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|"63% don't like it when speak loudly on phones"
Come again?
"And 26% are seeing bad mobile behaviors in restrooms"
At my previous job the bathroom stalls were constantly occupied by people tapping away on their mobile phones.
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|Oof! Got it. Thanks Giwo! Now, about this tapping in the bathroom stalls -- ew. Though texting in there's not as bad as people who take calls in there, which, EW. I'm sorry, but no call is that important. Either wait or call back.
For myself, I wish they'd asked specifically about people who use their gear in locker rooms. I had to drop my my recent gym when they wouldn't address the cameraphone problem; it's not a damn lounge and settling in there for a long henfest on your phone is just not acceptable. In other venues, though, I figure that if the clicking or the chatting is no more disruptive than it would be if the human with whom they were communicating was standing right there, it's unfair to be annoyed by it.
(As for babies, Skua, I second the motion re shopping in the later hours, and remembering that once upon a time you too were a yowling whelp getting on some bystander's last good nerve. That bystander managed not to throttle you, and now you must pass the goodwill along. Treat the racket like the siren on the ambulance when you're driving down the street -- you hear it and have to inconvenience yourself for a few seconds, but it's a sign someone else is having a *really* bad day. Perspective is all...)
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|While I take the point that every kid has their moments, and we all were kids, I do understand (to a degree) the squalling baby comment. It seems many parents these days don't have any clue how to rear their child, and will allow their little spawn to scream incessantly at the top of their lungs regardless of the setting (movie theaters, restaurants, etc).
Having said that, I'd take all the squalling children in the world over one person using a Push To Talk phone.
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|Heh...
Try telling one of those parents to reign in their child. Better yet, don't....it's not worth listening to the guaranteed tirade, which usually includes a long list of reasons why the parent should be excused from such mundane responsibility...reasons the rest of us seem to take in stride and *still* have well behaved children.
We've long since stopped going to theaters and "family" restaurants. It's so much easier and cheaper to hook up the projector and watch it on the garage-door while eating home-made buffet of grilled deliciousness. (of course, being a part-time DJ and having the equipment handy to do that helps...) ;)
As for PTT, it's the chirping that bugs me. If they could turn that part off, I wouldn't mind it at all... whoever thought that bit up needs to be locked in a padded room filled with crickets...for months. (Padded, so s/he can't put themselves out of their own misery...)
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|I was never "a yowling whelp getting on some bystander's last good nerve." My Mother would never allow such behavior. Now I'm sure there were times when I might have got on my Mother's last nerve...
Sure all kids can act up, babies especially... but have the common courtesy to not subject the people around you to a endlessly squalling infant. Take the child home.
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|I remember my mum saying something like "if you don't be quiet, we're going outside and you'll never see the toys again." or something like that. Had I continued, she put the cart to the side and pulled me outside; otherwise, someone in the store would have told her mother and she would have received a guilt trip about my behaviour.
Isn't that the thing? Many people don't feel guilt any longer? It's always someone else's responsibility, like the woman who ran into two children while running the red light while talking on the phone. It wasn't her fault, at all.
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