Cellphone free zones
 

I admit it...I carry two of them. But, please, they are SO annoying. Does anyone feel that we need to set standards as to when these things can/should be allowed? Personally, I would MOST CERTAINLY patronize a restaurant if they did not allow the use of cellphone while in the building. And, maybe Miss Manners would care to comment: it is rude when a friend/colleague is with you...and the **** thing rings. And then, your friend/colleague is involved in a lengthy conversation regarding the weather at home, etc....(and ignoring me in the process) Can't that wait? Just griping...

I also carry work and personal cell phones (and a nationwide pager to boot), and I try to observe different "rules" for which phone it is and when the call comes in.

The work cell phone is supposed to be for emergencies only (our pagers are supposed to be used for routine ) but people regularly "abuse the privelege" because it's easier for them. At lunchtime, I'll answer the work phone, but unless it's the boss or a true "business-stopping" emergency, the caller is told I will contact them when I'm back in the office. If it seems that a call will last over 30 seconds or so, I make it a point to get up and go to the lobby or outside, as I think it's plain rude to carry on at the table.

The personal phone is another matter - very few poeple are given that number (I give out the pager number instead). I end up letting maybe 90% of calls on the personal phone roll to VM (I do the same thing at home if I've just prepared a hot meal). Some of my friends are aghast that I will not answer a ringing phone (they trot out the old "it could be a relative calling about an emergency" bromide) but guess what - it that's the case they will most certainly leave a detailed message) http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Bottom line - I rule the phone - not the other way around!

They exist. Moose's isn't San Francisco's first, but probably its most famous. Check it out if you find yourself in my part of the world.

New technology is now out from Japan that creates jamming waves that block ALL cell phone calls inbound and outbound.

Being installed in restaurants, theaters, trains, temples, etc.

Manufacurer hopes to be able to sell in the USA by October 2001.

Ooh, chest pains. Call 911. Phone's not working. Victim dies enroute to hospital. A few minutes made all the difference. Family sues. Bye-bye restaurant.

A restaurant has a land line phone you can use in an emergency.

Admittedly, I wish there were more of these cell free zones! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Sanctuary area in the BA Terraces lounge at LGW is a cellphone free zone. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

This is sad. Cell phones can be so valuable. But people abuse them.

But, if someone wants to carry on a conversation with another person, why does it matter if they are sitting across from them in the restaurant, or in another state?

Here is why we are so bothered:
1 - They seem to be totally unable to answer on the first ring. They LOOK at the phone like it is the first time they have ever seen it.

2 - They feel they have to yell into the phone. Sort of like how people yell at people in wheelchairs.

If they would stop yelling, the rest of us would not even notice and just think they were talking the person next to them.

The problem with cell phones is not the yelling (yelling just makes it worse).

The problem is that the cell phone user is talking to someone who is not physically present. A one-sided conversation is unnatural, and you get the feeling the person is talking to him/herself (especially the earphone models). Two other people talking to each other in your presence is natural.

Using a pay phone does not present this problem, not because they are land lines, but because pay phones are placed out of the way (in the lobby, next to the water fountain, in the vestibule of a train, etc.) Pay phones are not installed at restaurant tables, because that is where people eat and socialize. You cannot socialize long distance.

[This message has been edited by JS (edited 02-16-2001).]

I pity those poor souls who are addicted to them.
I threw my cellphone away last year and since then my life has only gotten better.

Amtrak's Metroliner between New York and Washington has a "quiet car". No cell phones, no pagers, no other gadget that makes noise.

Like the rest of you, I carry a cell all the time but one, I put the ringer off and let the vibrating ring take my calls, and two, thanks to caller ID I know if its urgent or not quite often. I believe that people just like to look important using them, I would be the first to vote for no cell phone zones most everywhere.. there is a time and place for everything..

Canada May Allow Jammers to Silence Cellphones
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/2001...mers_dc_2.html

I can see cell phones being useful in a few professions; e.g., doctor, salesperson. However, with these phones being so inexpensive, everyone and their dog has one. Last week I was almost rear-ended by a person yapping on a cell phone at 70 mph, and got to listen to some idiot call his wife from the food store to inquire as to which type of potatoes to purchase.

Speaking for myself, I already have a personal e-mail, work e-mail, a home (land) line, a business (land) line, and an excellent voicemail system that I must checkin with twice per day across the country. Far from wanting a cell phone, I would pay $30 a month to be able to drop one of the above.

-This is not to belittle the technology, the persons who use cell phones, or keep my head in the sand vis-a-vie technology. But, it seriously seems that the communications issue has gotten out of hand. There are more than enough ways to get in-touch with someone as it is, and I would have to say that 90% of the cell phone conversations that I hear have little or no serious content. As for cell phones while driving, this is outright dangerous.