Cell Phone Etiquette

I suppose it is my turn to take a shot at cell phone etiquette. It is fast becoming my top pet peeve. Has anyone else noticed it? Has anything else in American history made us so rude and uncaring for the feelings of those around us? This columnist is hard pressed to find anything else. Let's chat about it here since I don't know how to text message.

Earlier today I made a very bold, if not rude, statement to my boss. The timing was right otherwise I would probably be unemployed right now. The statement from me made the point I was trying to make and it served a purpose, at least for one day, probably not much longer.

A meeting was in progress and I was asked to join it late. As I was trying to get ready to leave town on a work related assignment I was not particularly happy to be attending the meeting. Nevertheless, when the boss calls one into a meeting, one generally goes. I am one and I went. Keep in mind, I was pressed for time and was pretty sure Southwest Airlines would not hold a flight for me. In fact I was certain they would not. There is no need to leave that part of this discussion open for debate.

Upon arrival I took a seat. Within about one minute my boss' cell phone rang. He answered it. The rest of us sat for a few minutes, waiting for him to end the call. When he disconnected the meeting continued for almost five more minutes, then his cell phone rang again. Again, he answered it. This was just not my day to sit in his office while he took phone calls on his cell phone, so I got up to leave.

Needless to say, everyone looked at me as if they wondered where I was going. Never leave your audience guessing on that one. I announced that I had to get some work done before leaving for the airport and suggested that we continue the meeting when everyone could devote the time to it.

To my surprise, my boss told the party on the other end of the line that he would have to call them back another time. He disconnected the call and apologized for the interruption. He made a special point of announcing that he was turning off the cell phone. Our meeting continued and we were out of there in about fifteen minutes. After the meeting I am sure my boss turned his phone back on and I am also sure that he had voice mails, and I am reasonably certain the person or persons leaving the voicemails believed there messages were of the utmost importance.

One of my bosses once told me that he could not turn off his cell phone, since his boss would not understand if he could not be reached. To that I politely say, bunk! If you feel you cannot ever turn off your cell phone you have issues. Trust me, it is not your boss that is the issue; it is you who needs to feel as though you are that important.

If you do not believe me, take note the next time you observe someone other than yourself talking on their cell phone. They talk louder than they would if you were standing there talking to them. As you know, you can speak in normal tones on the cell phone and the other party will hear you just fine. Raising one's voice is an attention getter, admit it. Now that you have noticed it in other people, see if you do not catch yourself doing the same thing when you get on your cell phone. That need to feel important has kicked in.

It's great to feel important, but do you also have to throw all sense of etiquette out the window to gain that feeling? Can you not show a little bit of the respect taught to you by your parents when you were growing up? My mother died before I owned my first cell phone, but I do not want the first thing I hear from her one day in heaven, (I am taking the position that I will be there one day. I know she is there now), to be a scolding because I turned totally rude due to a cell phone.

If I showed the lack of respect most people do with my cell phone and my mother were around to see it that is one cell phone that would be in the garbage. If you believe I am joking, I assure you that this is one time I am not. I would be digging a cell phone out of the garbage can. My mother could care less about how important I thought I was when she and I were having a conversation. She expected me to give our conversation the respect it deserved. Today I expect the same out of those with whom I am talking.

One of the best parts about Friday evening is I can walk in the door, see Deborah and know that she and I will be able to spend the weekend together. Another nice feeling is that I know I can turn off my cell phone and not turn it back on until Monday morning. You see, I am not that important and I do not need to feel that I am that important. Rarely does a Monday come when I turn my cell phone on again and there is even a voicemail. When there is a voicemail, it is never one that would have changed my world in any way if I had answered it when the person called me.

Work with me here if you are old enough to remember the days when there were no cell phones and most of my readers are that old. Do not let that fact make you feel too badly. Just tell yourself that you are not that old, it is just that cell phones have not been around that long. That sort of explanation certainly works for me.

Whatever you do for the remainder of your day, turn off the cell phone when someone is meeting with you. Give them that much respect. You would want it for yourself. Nothing shows your disrespect for me more than a cell phone in your ear, literally with the Bluetooth, when you and I are meeting. It is especially rude if you requested my time. Turn off the cell phone. The world will survive without you for the time of our meeting!