Is it just me or has anyone else noticed people’s need to be on their cell phones every waking hour of their life?
The other night, I sat with a woman on the ride home. She originally sat two seats away, but when the guy across the aisle from me finished his cell phone conversation, the woman stood up to sit next to me. Her purpose: to borrow the guy’s cell phone.
The man told her that he was getting off at the next stop. I read that statement to mean that he didn’t want her to use his cell phone. That candidness was lost on her. It didn’t keep the woman from telling him that it was OK because she won’t take long. As it turned out, the guy’s stop was three minutes away and the woman used all that time to chit-chat with someone on the other line. The call wasn’t an emergency from the sound of it. She wasn’t having the person on the other line pick her up at her stop or meet her someplace. She just called to find out how that person was doing and that pretty soon they’ll see each other when she got home. She said her “goodbye” only because the cell phone owner stood up to get off.
That whole incident didn’t make any sense to me. First of all, the call hardly qualified as an emergency. Second, the call might have cost the cell phone owner roaming charges. Third, it was obvious from her chat that she would be seeing the person she called when she got off the bus. Was she perhaps alerting that person (a significant other maybe?) that whatever she or he might be doing at that moment should cease pronto if the activity would upset her because she’ll be home soon? (Sorry, it’s my creative mind at work here!)
OK, so maybe I read too much into that call. My point is that many people use cell phone conversations for nonsensical reasons. As a result, more and more wireless communications companies are sprouting up because of the huge market and revenue potential for the cell phone business.
I don’t care if people love to spend money chatting away on their cellular telephones. What can be annoying is the growing lack of privacy and conversation boundaries for this type of interaction. Cell phone users have covered a gamut of subjects under the sun, from what they’re thawing out for dinner to what will happen in the bedroom for their nocturnal activity. People have fought during cell phone chats, carried on a gossip marathon, romanced the beloved despite the countless pairs of unwilling ears nearby.
I don’t care if people love to spend money chatting away on their cellular telephones. What can be annoying is the growing lack of privacy and conversation boundaries for this type of interaction. Cell phone users have covered a gamut of subjects under the sun, from what they’re thawing out for dinner to what will happen in the bedroom for their nocturnal activity. People have fought during cell phone chats, carried on a gossip marathon, romanced the beloved despite the countless pairs of unwilling ears nearby.
What has happened to individual space and privacy? Are today’s people not giving themselves permission to care about the sanctity of their private lives anymore? When has it been acceptable to broadcast someone’s dating patterns and clandestine relationships in commonly shared areas?
Sadly, respect for others’ space is fast becoming an anachronism, getting irrelevant and out of place in today’s world. I really pine for that time when public conversations were carried on in whispers so as not to upset the folks nearby. In that almost faraway era, certain topics were off-limits in public places. In today’s society, it’s become a free-for-all, nothing’s sacred anymore! In addition, screaming and verbal abuse over cell phones in the guise of carrying on a conversation has become the standard that many people conduct their cell phone usage.
I yearn for the long ago old-fashioned time before man made headway with cellular connection. I wish we could see that quiet public time come back. But everyone is different and our views on what’s correct and appropriate public behavior don’t always match. Perhaps the only recourse for people like me is to carry a pair of earplugs. Or simply tune out the wild and disturbing distraction.
