They announce it on the commuter trains all the time, if you are going to make or recieve calls, please do so from the vestibule, and not from your seats.

I've seen many "please turn off cell phones" in restaurant signs. I was a bit taken aback when a priest announced it before starting a wedding.

And let's not forget that Amtrak regional trains (Acela service) in the Northeast all have one "quiet car" where cellphone use is totally banned! If you even try to talk on a cellphone in this car, the passengers will make their displeasure known immediately. ^ ^ ^

Anyone who uses a cell phone in a restaurant (whether it be McDonald's or Le Louis XV) should be taken out baack and shot.

Similarly, when someone is using a cellular phone too loudly in a public area, I will usually make a comment regarding them and/or their conversation that they will be sure to hear. Please note that it is never a nice comment.

I wish they announced that on NJ Transit trains. Some of these loud voiced blabbermouths illustrate perfectly why phone booths were originally created.

Wow, that's pathetic.

Whenever somebody is too damn loud on their cell on the train when I was taking it I would hope they gave their cell number to whoever they were calling


Give me a call at 212-444-5555

Me dialing onesuite (to mask my number) dialing 212-444-5555

Hold on, I have another call coming in

"Is it really really necessary that the entire train listen to your stupid call?"


Never failed, they would have rage in their eyes as they tried to find the people making that call.

O.K., I'm a tad confused...

I have a mobile phone of course but I hardly ever use it - not at all in December and so far only 3 minutes in January.

Even so, I don't understand all the strong words and anti-mobile policy.

When I'm on the phone I don't speak any louder than I do when I converse with whoever's on the other side of the table. Perhaps others do and can I see if that's annoying, but I haven't noticed that at all anywhere. If you're going to ban cell phone calls in public places, you'd better ban ALL conversation then. With a cell phone call you overhear only one side of the conversation, if two people are chatting in earshot that's gotta be twice as bad.

Maybe the real reason people want to ban cell phone use in public is that nosy folks can only eavesdrop on only ONE part of a cell phone call.....

And just what type of "atmosphere" do you want to preserve at a local pub or bar-n-grill anyway?! All the local places I go to are a Hell of a long way off from the club lounge at the Four Seasons.... maybe you all just go to fancier places than I do.

There are a few places that I think they should be turned off though: theatres, hospitals, classrooms, and the such.

A 212 cell phone? Not 917? Seriously, I want to try this as I get infuriated when these big mouths are oblivious to the quiet around them. What do you press to mask your own cell #?

My two cents thain that 30 sec is an excellant policy.

German trains also have "quiet" cars.

Amen! I really dislike those things. I grew out of walkie-talkies when I was a kid and used to play cops and robbers with them. Geez!

*67

There is a little restaurant in West Los Angeles called The Nook. At the bottom of the menu it says "please do not use cellphones as it interferes with our French Fry machine."

If only others were as considerate, but alas your courtesy is the exception.

As much as I try to speak quietly, I catch myself speaking louder than normal on quite a few of my calls. Recognizing this, I always take my calls in an area where I won't disturb others.

I also use the nifty feature that comes with every cell phone. It�s called v-mail. If I'm in a setting that answering a call would be discourteous to those around me, or I don�t want to be interrupted, I hit the button to stop the ringing and let it go to v-mail. I refuse to be a slave to the phone.

That's a classic! But I thought using Onesuite shows up your real number already?

Loud cellphone users remind me of my technologically challenged grandmother who believed that one needed to shout into the telephone since the other party was so distant from her.

This, of course, was reinforced by the fact that the word for telephone in her native language was "fernsprecher," which literally translates to something like "speaker to far away places."

On this topic, I believe that making a cellphone call should be done away from the dining area of any establishment. Additionally, all phones should be put on vibrate and, although it is no longer considered discourteous to accept an important call at a dinner table, one should answer, ask the caller to hold, and then excuse himself and walk away to an appropriate location for continuation of the call.

At a buddy's wedding. Somebody's cell phone starting ringing during the vows. Now with the wedding video, all you hear during the vows is. "HELLO!!!! I'm at a wedding.... got to go... he is about to say...." Talk about messing with wedding memories.

Japan this is true generally speaking.

In China - they shout at the cellphone. Rare if ever have I seen anyone cover their mouths.