No show tonight
As there is no show tonight and I have had no repsonse to my Trivia, I want to take the opporunity to vent about a pet peeve of mine.
I went to a party yesterday - the hostess had gone to a lot of trouble to decorate her house, prepare a great meal, provide pumpkins for every one to carve and prizes for the best carving. The guests started arriving and after eating we went outside to carve pumpkins and enjoy the weather, play croquet and generally just socialize. At no time had anybody’s cell phone been on display, or even rung. Until the last guest showed up, sporting an ear piece on their ear and a cell phone hanging of the back pocket of their trousers. The ear peice stayed in place all day - through the croquet game, through the pumpkin carving and was still in place when I left. Not once did that phone ring but the paraphenelia stayed in place, on view the entire time.
My peeve is that I think that is so disrepsectful not to mention rude to the hostess. Why was it necessary to keep the ear piece on during the party, especially as the phone never rang. I came up with a few reasons why - a la Letterman (but only 6):
6) The extra weight in the back pocket was needed for balance
4) it wasn’t really a cellphone - it was a transporter
4) it is the latest line in earrings
3) it was a status symbol (that failed)
2) it was something to hide behind
1) the ear would fall off if the piece was removed
Joking aside - I really hate the dependency we have on cell phones. You see people in supermarkets, pushing their trolleys, pulling things off shelves, all the while talking on their phone. Now if their conversation is about the shopping, that might be acceptable, but when it is work related NOT OK. I had a work related phone call at 7.00am the other morning - and when I politely asked my colleague not to call me at 7.00am, the response was “I thought I would get your voice mail”. Again NOT OK! Private time is private time - we all need to get away from work, to deal with the family or day to day chores and the intrusion of cell phones has made this more and more difficult.
I say - leave the cell phones at home or in the car when you are at a party or shopping or in the movies. If it’s important the caller will leave a message and you can return the call at your convenience - if it’s not important, then they will call back.
November 4th, 2006 at 11:47 am
I see that earpiece thing a lot — especially among the 18-30 group. I figure what it’s about is a status symbol. It’s an attempt to say, “I’m just sooo important, I can’t possibly be out of touch for a moment!”
I work at a Marine base library, where phones are not allowed. Once I saw a Master Sergeant walk up to a Lance Corporal with an earpiece, remove the earpiece, (rather less than gently, I might add) and hand it to the LCPL.
“The sign says no phones, a**hole,” the sarge said.
Made my day!