Weekend Assignment #132 -- Cell Phones

Weekend Assignment #132: Have people completely lost all sense of courtesy when it comes to their cell phones?

No.  "Some people" have, of course.  Some people still drink and drive, some people smoke around non-smokers, some people spit and swear in public.  But people, most people, have adjusted nicely to this inovation in communication.

My family put me on their family plan. Wonderful convenience.  It sure has been handy when my scooter stalled, or I have been lost, or I showed up at the wrong place or the wrong time.  But it is not on most of the time.

I think the time is coming when ALL phones will be portable and we will carry them with us.  The "home" phone will disappear.  A new set of manners will appear, and phone calls will not take precedence over face to face conversations.  Some sort of "Hold my calls, Miss Blue" will be built in, and people will still deal with one another in person, with the phone in a distant background. 

Extra credit: Have you ever answered your phone at an inappropriate time?  No, but my talking watch has announced the time, out-loud, during church and quiet musical presentations.  I forgot to mute it before the meeting began

And cell phoning while driving is serious no no.  But there again, I was an even worse offender.  I was a ham operator and had a ham radio in the car, and I used to try to drive and have a QSO (radio conversation) while driving IN MORSE CODE, tapping out my answers on a telegraph key attached to the radio.  That was really stupid, and I quickly gave up on that folly, but not before I had tried it..