Anyone else get annoyed when the people around you are constantly on the cell phone?

[3goodeggs]

This is a great thread. I do not even own one.
We used to talk to each other, we knew how something came across by the look on someones face.
Now people talk into little boxes, and I do not think it matters who they are talking to, what was said, or how it was received. I think it is an addiction.

 

[cassie]

I once knew a woman who was invited out to lunch by a young man she knew. As soon as they were seated he started talking non stop on his cell phone. After they ordered, he was still at it. She called the waiter over and asked that her order be placed in a take out container. When the food came, she picked up hers and left. Her host was still on his phone. When he saw her later it was clear he had no idea why she left. She just looked at him and told him to figure it out himself.

 

[eenie114]

I have one for for social and safety reasons, (babysitting and travel) and what's funny is that people think that I'm addicted to it because I can text super fast on it, but that's because I've had the same phone for four years and know the keyboard.

But yeah, when I'm having a face-to-face conversation with a friend and they are obviously reading something MUCH more interesting on their phone, I get annoyed. If they would rather keep looking at a screen than hang out with me, that's fine, but it would be nice if they'd say so!
Sometimes my friends and I will take out our phones for conversational purposes. "Oh, I saw the most interesting article about that the other day and it had a quote I thought you would like... Hold on, it's in my history, I'll find it." Takes two minutes, maximum, and improves the quality of the conversation we are having. I have no issues with that, as long as they don't get distracted halfway through by something else on their phone.

 

[3goodeggs]

I just do not think that a phone call should be more important than the business at hand.
We rarely go out to eat, but when we do, there will be families all sitting with the glow of an electronic device on their face. yes, the three year old in quiet and still, but where is she learning conversation, vocabulary and manners? how do marriages last without any communication? When do they laugh together and bond?

I find it to be very sad and one dimensional.

My biggest, meanest, most angry cell phone gripe is when other people endanger MY family because they HAVE to be texting while they are driving. How dare they be so selfish and superficial. if it is THAT important, then it really needs their full attention and they should PULL over and make a CALL!

 

[Farmer Mike S]

I just do not think that a phone call should be more important than the business at hand.
We rarely go out to eat, but when we do, there will be families all sitting with the glow of an electronic device on their face. yes, the three year old in quiet and still, but where is she learning conversation, vocabulary and manners? how do marriages last without any communication? When do they laugh together and bond?

I find it to be very sad and one dimensional.

My biggest, meanest, most angry cell phone gripe is when other people endanger MY family because they HAVE to be texting while  they are driving. How dare they be so selfish and superficial. if it is THAT important, then it really needs their full attention and they should PULL over and make a CALL!

I had a friend crash into a tree with a car full of girls and the car was totaled, but thankfully they were alright. One girl just needed a few stitches, but it was so scary for me when I drove by and stopped. I was about 5 minutes behind them and didn't even realize it was them. When I got out of the car, it was like "oh s$%t!" The tree was about 5 feet into the front of the car and all the windows were broken; it was a relief seeing them walking around alright. And this was all because the driver was texting and driving!

And yea, I think this texting is depriving people of their social skills. The person sending the text can say things without fear because they won't see how the other person reacts, and the person receiving may not even know what the text is really saying. It's scary when people sometimes don't even know how to talk face to face. This is unfortunately going to be the future of our society; even parents and their children communicate by text sometimes. The funniest moment I had was when everyone at my lunch table was texting each other while sitting with each other. It took me awhile to pick up what was going on, but it was strange

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

I had a friend crash into a tree with a car full of girls and the car was totaled, but thankfully they were alright. One girl just needed a few stitches, but it was so scary for me when I drove by and stopped. I was about 5 minutes behind them and didn't even realize it was them. When I got out of the car, it was like "oh s$%t!" The tree was about 5 feet into the front of the car and all the windows were broken; it was a relief seeing them walking around alright. And this was all because the driver was texting and driving!

And yea, I think this texting is depriving people of their social skills. The person sending the text can say things without fear because they won't see how the other person reacts, and the person receiving may not even know what the text is really saying. It's scary when people sometimes don't even know how to talk face to face. This is unfortunately going to be the future of our society; even parents and their children communicate by text sometimes. The funniest moment I had was when everyone at my lunch table was texting each other while sitting with each other. It took me awhile to pick up what was going on, but it was strange

I have done that before as a joke but it has its uses too.
I actually do this a lot. I can have an adult conversation with someone on the other end of the couch while kids are piled up between us watching spungbob. I have also used texts to warn someone they are being lied to or being played while the person is there doing it.

 

[3goodeggs]

Snitch.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

lol When it comes to lairs an players, yep...

 

[dawg53]

Drivers in their vehicles sitting on a green light texting is my pet peeve....especially a SHORT green light. When someone honks their horn, the culprit takes off and of course the light changes! Grrrr.

 

[Alice28]

I think just as bad is people who always have there TV on when people are over. I have some relatives who always have the tv on. You try to visit and they are talking then zone out. Before we even bought are house I told my husband we would NOT have a tv in any main room. We have one tv, no cable, or anything. We don't even get local channels. People seem just as addicted to TV as they are to there phones. I would rather have my kid outside in the garden or helping my husband build are duck house... which he does very well. Can't stand going to someone's house and they are zoned into the tv and it's kind of creepy seeing a small child zoned into a TV set.