Cellphone manners
Where are your wireless manners? makes interesting observations on how cellphone usage is causing intrusions of privacy.
I have noticed people answering their cellphones while engaged in an interesting discussion with me. When the person returns after answering the call(which takes quite long sometimes) the mood has completely changed between us and the train of thoughts we were talking excitedly about looks distant. The cellphone looks like such a notorious interruption then.
I once had this boss who wouldn’t put his phone off during key meetings though he understood we didn’t like it. Most of the calls he got in the middle of the meetings were from his children. They could easily have been put off for later. People somehow have the feelig that if they don’t answer every call, they are going to miss out on something very important.
There is actually some sense in this concern. Since one can never predict when an important call will come, it does make sense to be prepared to receive calls at all times. But isn’t that what the vibrators on cellphones are for? You can always look at your phone when it buzzes without distracting others and answer it only if it looks urgent.
Even worse is the case with WiFi, or wireless Internet. WiFi is an amazing technology, but only if used with the awareness of what is going around. There was this person in my class who would keep working on his email at all times during research meetings. Needless to say, he missed most of what went on in the discussion. And people who were talking were often resentful he was denying them his attention and distracting everyone.
A friend of mine expresses shock everytime she sees I don’t answer calls while in a discussion. She cannot understand my ‘ignoring’ calls. She maintains I deny people attention at whim. Well, thats true in a way for all of us, isnt it? But is it justified to deny attention to a person you are physically present with and talking to so you can answer a phone call?
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
