<p>In my experience, a number of diners carrying on a discussion adjust the volume of their conversation to the noise level in the room. People carrying on a cell phone converstation seem to be oblivious to that and carry on their side of the call at a volume level that seems appropriate to them, given their ability to hear the other end of the call and the ability of the person on the other end of the call to hear them. This usually means a one-sided conversation at a high volume.</p>
<p>Interesting thought, garland. We don’t as completely follow a train of thought from point A to point B. Segmented thinking. I see it as our desire these days to be fast and efficient. With the speed of the internet and the wealth of ways to contact people, we have grown increasingly impatient. Gee, I get frustrated if my page doesn’t load fast enough (in milliseconds) to read my email or websites. Some people argue that this, combined with the quantity of visual information coming at us to process from tv and video games has fed into this impatience, the need for high levels of stimulation and possibly even facilitated ADHD (not sure I buy that, but I’ve heard the arguments). That said, I am not convinced that this fast-paced world has truly worsened our, or our kids ability to synthesize information, to process, reason or problem solve, or to engage in the kind of stream of consciousness thinking that makes for a good college essay. I think some of what we have lost in this fast-paced world is manners and common courtesy. But I’ll bet previous generations have said the same thing…</p>
<p>*** edit** talk about FAST-- I have to clarify that my comment is addressed to post #58. Five others posted while I was typing!!!</p>
<p>I find it really annoying when people leave their cell phones on to ring in venues where they have been specifically asked (or should know) that this is inappropriate: theatres, meetings, hospitals…</p>
<p>I find certain other uses rude also, but this is just my personal opinion - at the dinner table, in restaurants…</p>
<p>What I don’t understand: why is it any more annoying to listen to someone converse on his/her cell phone on, say, a bus than it would be to listen to that same person converse with his seatmate? Valley Girl-speak is Valley Girl-speak, whether one-sided or two-sided.</p>
<p>There has been research on this point. It really is more distracting, and thus annoying, to hear half of a conversation rather than all of a conversation, because your mind is practiced at filling in what comes next and thus it’s maddening when what’s next isn’t heard. I find it pretty easy to tune out a WHOLE conversation that is not of interest to me, but it keeps intruding on my attention when someone is in a phone conversation in my earshot.</p>
<p>UMdad-
Annie Hall clip worked fine on my home computer- Perfect example! Perfect!
I agree that when we talk on the cell phone we seem to have no awareness of our volume. And though I remember to turn my phone off in movies and meetings 99% of ther time, occasionally I forget. We arrived at a movie the other night after the credits started and somehow I “missed” the “turn your phone off” reminder. Fortunately, when the person next to me turned their off, it reminded me to turn mine off… which then cued my h to turn is off too. Wish they’d remind us when its over to turn them back on!</p>
<p>Again-- what happened to common courtesy?? We were out to dinner a few weeks a go and the people 2 tables away were TALKING AND LAUGHING REALLY LOUD. I coudn’t hear myself think. It wasn’t the acoustics-- they were just LOUD (confirmed by the waiter, who wholheartedly agreed but wouldnt say anything to them). We would have felt weird getting up, going over and saying something, but what do you do? Suffer in silence and have a lousy evening out? Tough call. We should all make a pact to make a concerted effort to think about the impact of our behaviors on others. Anybody else in?</p>