<p>I was at a national home improvement chain, paying with a credit card. Clerk asked for the card to input the last 4 digits, and while the card was in his hand, HE STARTED TO TEXT ON HIS PHONE!!! I went to management to complain, and both local and corporate treated me like I was an annoyance. Maybe it was innocent, maybe not. Immediately called and had my card number changed. Have not shopped there since.</p>
<p>Contrast this to another national chain, where I am told if employees are on their phones while on the clock, they are fired. If you are on the company’s time, you should not be playing on your phone.</p>
<p>A friend of mine is a nurse in a cardiac care unit. She is in charge of other nurses and often has to reprimand nurses for using their phones while caring for extremely ill patients. One time it was during a procedure! Frightening!!!
Enough is enough!</p>
<p>My son worked as a camp counselor this summer. The campers AND counselors were not allowed to use their phones at all during the week. The counselors could use them ONLY on their one day off. Somehow my son survived!</p>
<p>My friends dont do this, that Ive noticed, and even if I am dying to take my phone out to google something that Ive forgotten, I don’t dare if my D is around, I would get a lecture.
If they did to a large extent, I might mention that I cant concentrate on our conversation when they are checking their phone, the same way that I would mention that their noisy tv was a distraction to me, and if I should come back at a better time.
I don’t think of it as drawing attention to rudeness, but standing up for myself, because I do get very distracted, and generally people appreciate to hear what helps.</p>
<p>I have to check sometime when I am on off hours support. We provide support round the clock. I do not need to respond though. If there is a critical call, then I have to hop in my car and get to my laptop at home to fix the problem.<br>
I hate when people who I spend time with are on the phone constantly. But none of my friends doing it, only my adult S. and D., cannot call them children anymore, since the younger is turning 25. But I see that they are doing it automatically, while still engaged with me, I do not think that they even realized that they are on the phone. Not at all, it became more like some kind of automated response rather than fully controled brain activity. Like we do not think much about the breathing funciton of our body, the same kind of response.</p>
<p>just bought a new car with blue tooth hands free. I love it. It has to be safer than making or receiving a call with you hand held while driving! But not as safe as not using the phone at all while driving.</p>
<p>I am surprised at how many people expect that you can take calls or are checking emails constantly. I don’t have a smart phone anyway but when I am with clients they are paying for my undivided attention. Still people (even at my workplace) will say “did you get the email that I sent?”. Well, one look at my schedule would tell you that I was with clients back to back for the last 3 hours! Similarly I have told receptionist things like, “Please have them leave a detailed message because I can’t often answer my phone during the day.” Still I get messages back that say, “this is so and so, give me a call back when you get the chance.”</p>
<p>EPTR, maybe when hosting a party we will get to the point like at a conference or something that before the first course is served or the appetizers, the host/hostess has to make an announcement “would you like some bruschetta and have you silenced your phone???” :)</p>
<p>Me too. I’m surprised that more people don’t revolt against the tyranny of the phone. I don’t understand why it’s so desirable to be available to anyone who has your number or email. It seems like slavery to me. At one point it was a sign of high status to be “in demand,” but it now seems more impressive to be able to ignore your phone. When I see people who can’t put down their phones, I see it as a sign of social insecurity. </p>
<p>The expectation in the business world has definitely changed, and very prompt responses to emails and calls is expected. My company is actually quite respectful of personal time, but our industry is one that is fast paced and I am more comfortable being available and connected most of the time. I try to be courteous at meals and social functions, but, yes, I do check my phone at sporting events and other gatherings where my undivided attention isn’t required all the time. Responding to social emails is a different deal. They can wait. </p>
<p>Studies so far suggest that using a speaker system distracts about as much as holding the phone, though I think that’s true so I may be looking for confirmation. </p>
<p>I’ve been in meetings where the first bit is everyone silence the phone. </p>
<p>One of my biggest pet peeves is parents talking on the phone while walking their kids - in a stroller, hand-in-hand, next to the kid. Those years fly by and you’ll never get them back. You wish you could have more of those times … and you’re spending them on your phone. One of my favorite memories is holding my youngest child’s hand while we walked and talked about moving to a new house. She’d been quieter than usual so we assumed she was nervous or processing something. She got out that she was scared the dark would be different. I explained that it would be at first but then it would become a friend just like her bedroom now. It was a perfect moment. You can’t have that conversation if you’re on the phone.</p>
<p>DH and I do not have phones, per se – I have a burner phone that we take when we travel. You would not believe the looks we get from other adults. But I am very “present” in my life, and I like that part! (We do have iPads, so we aren’t making a statement. But who would I call? Why? What can’t possibly wait? )</p>
<p>Re: parents talking on the phone while pushing the stroller, at the park, etc. I see this too and it can be a time you want to say, “get off the phone! Pay attention to your child!” but also remember that the phone may allow the mom to spend more time with her child. Maybe she is talking on the phone and taking care of a quick work call so when they get to the park she can play with the child. Maybe the phone gives the parent the work flexibility to get home from work earlier and overall spent more time with the child. </p>
<p>We see these interactions (or non-interactions) because they are out in public. A cell phone makes a persons communication more public. This same parent might be the parent that twenty years ago would be spending hours on the landline at home with friends/family - we just didn’t see it because they were behind closed doors. </p>
<p>^^^ This! abasket- you nailed it. Much of the time I spend checking my devices/emailing or (less often) talking on the phone allows me the flexibility to not be chained to my desk at work. I have a reputation of being extremely responsive and reachable, so no one questions me coming in a little later than others or not taking a travel day as a vacation day since I work on the plane etc. I am able, in the long run, to spend more time with family and friends because I AM willing to be connected while on “my” time.</p>
<p>I have resisted getting an iPhone because I don’t want to turn into a phone zombie like everyone else. The only one with zombitude that really bothers me is H. He’s getting better but like most phone zombies he’s a bit clueless.</p>
<p>It’s getting so bad that other phone zombies act like I am the rude one since I’m not attached to my cell phone at all hours and in all places. “I tried to call your cell. Was it off?”, said with utter incredulity. I can’t stand bad connections and prefer to use my home land line phone when possible and phone zombies can’t, just can’t understand this.</p>
<p>I think we have actually given up a lot in the name of convenience. Remember the clarity of traditional phone service? Remember how the receiver was designed to fit your head and not the tiny pouch in your purse? I know Ma Bell was a monster but there were some golden years there after phone deregulation and before the proliferation of cell phones where service was good and affordable too. </p>
<p>I just got an iPhone app so I can deposit business checks by taking photos of them! Amazing. It will save a lot of trips to the bank.</p>
<p>DH and I have owned our consulting engineering firm for 15 years. Times are definitely harder now, so we need every job we can get. We have noticed this year that potential clients expect a response IMMEDIATELY when they call. If we get a call late Friday afternoon and wait until Monday morning to call them back, we’ve usually lost the job. It’s kind of stressful!</p>
<p>I have to say that I agree with saintfan. I can see on my phone that you called. So when you leave me a message that says call me back, drives me nuts. I will either tell you want I want if I leave a message or text or email what I want. Usually I will email instead of calling anyways but I vague message to call back is annoying. I wonder why I’ve bothered to listen to my voicemail. </p>
<p>I have a person who never calls back, never listens to voicemail, takes a week or longer to respond to a text. But when you are with her, she’s constantly on her phone checking Facebook or even more annoying updating Facebook. All. The. Time. </p>