Mobile Phone Etiquette

The section entitled mobile phone etiquette interested me as I have seen so many displays of complete ignorance shown when using mobiles, I felt I had to have my say!

I have always resisted the urge to get a mobile phone myself until recently. I felt that, as I didn’t drive and as such would not need the emergency value of the phone, I would not buy one just to be one of the crowd as it were.

I have now left my job and use my computer on a regular basis, so my land telephone line is often occupied. I decided to buy a mobile phone so that my parents would be able to contact me in an emergency even when I was working on the computer. I chose a cheap but reliable phone, the Mitsubishi Trium Mars, which will send and receive calls and has an answering machine if I’m busy. I didn’t need the Internet connection or games even though the phone does have them.

What I am trying to say here is that I am now speaking as a fellow user of a mobile phone and not as a scornful none user!

People with mobile phones should be aware that their noise, be it conversation or ring tones, can be heard by other people. I find that this is a fact that seems to completely bypass a lot of people!

I have heard mobile phones ring in the theatre, in the restaurant, in a seminar, and whilst someone was making a speech! The best of it is the owners aren’t content with disturbing the rest of us with the phone ringing they quite calmly answer it too as though they are more important than anything taking place around them.

I was at a birthday party recently where the host was making a speech thanking us all for being there and, for the duration of the speech, two adults (who should have known better) were texting each other on mobile phones! They had arrived together, were leaving together and were sitting next to one another the whole time so why on earth did they need to be so rude? The speech was punctuated with the alarm calls on the phones that alerted them to the text that had just arrived.

I appreciate that, on occasions, the expected call might be really important – so why not either set the phone to vibrate when a call comes and then leave the room to answer it or set the answering machine and check the display regularly for the receipt of any calls.

If you’re in the theatre, cinema, church, seminar etc never, ever let the phone ring out loud and, if a call arrives and alerts you silently, stay where you are until it is convenient to leave the room without disturbing everyone else.

If you’re in a restaurant when your call arrives, leave the room to answer it. We don’t all want to be disturbed by your conversation. I know that there is always conversation going on in restaurants but people do tend to shout when speaking into a mobile whether they need to or not!

It’s the same in a shop or on the bus or train. When you answer the phone talk in a normal voice, don’t shout. The rest of us can see you have a mobile phone without having to make a nuisance of yourself to let us know.

As you can see I feel quite strongly about this disturbance of my enjoyment of life. I appreciate that mobile phones are necessary to a lot of us for varying reasons, but let’s consider other people too.

One more thing - it should be made illegal to use your mobile phone and drive at the same time unless you have a hands free kit! Maybe it will be when enough people have been killed by drivers who think they can steer and change gear with one hand!