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| Volume 7, Issue 5, May 2008 |
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| Editor's note: This article was originally published in the April 2006 edition of the Capital City Free Press. Dr. Bumdinkle: I was raised to follow general rules of manners and etiquette, but I'm unsure with the big rise of wireless phone use what is considered kosher and what is not. Ya know, like when is it appropriate to use it and when should you turn it off? -Ringin' Rachel An entirely valid question, Rachel. In terms of places and situations where you should keep your phone turned to silent or should not engage in a conversation at all would be at movie theatres, live theatre or musical performances, business meetings, church--generally anywhere in which your obnoxious downloaded 50 Cent ring tone will annoy and/or distract individuals around you. Luckily, many such locales have begun escorting individuals from the building for being so rude and discourteous. In more personal settings, you should minimize and possibly even turn your phone off during personal dinners and especially dates. I once pointedly and abruptly ended a night out with a companion who kept receiving calls every 30 minutes and refused to keep the conversations brief, ironically all of which were over trivial matters... as quite frankly, most wireless conversations are. "I'll catch you later when you have more time... and manners." If you must accept a call or read and respond to a text message mid-conversation with someone or in a similar situation, you should apologize and excuse yourself to handle it. Then you should make sure that the call is as brief as possible and return immediately. It's no different than a salesperson making a customer who has made the time to come into the store wait while s/he yammers on the phone with some pathologically lazy couch potato with a similar question or request. It also goes without explanation that you should minimize and/or eliminate wireless calls and text messaging from your driving time. No one wants to die because you cannot contain yourself from talking about yesterday's episode of "Desperate House Wives" with your friend Kikki. The aforementioned problem has led some states and municipalities to outright ban such activities during driving, and with gross irresponsibility such as this on the rise, don't be surprised if within five years, we may face a similar law imposed nationwide. In short, just remember where are you and the company you're in before you start yapping. No one's dinner should be interrupted by hearing about your mystery rash in graphic detail. -Dr. Bumdinkle Send your questions to: Drbumdinkle@yahoo.com. |
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