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Date Posted: Wed, Nov 12 2003, 17:35:04
Author: Kyse Safe
Subject: I hate cell phones

I Hate Cell Phones

Apologies in advance to any cell phone junkies, but I hate them! I hate the whole culture of people talking on their phones
anywhere, anytime, about nothing. Self-important "business" people in the line at McDonald's, fat cats in their BMWs with
phones stuck to the side of their heads, people on the subway whose phones ring immediately after we come out from
underground, people having the conversations that consist of "I'm on the bus/streetcar/subway. I'm at [such and such
intersection]. Where are you?" I think cell phones are a bad rash, encouraging rude behaviour and dumbing down
communication. I hate the vocabulary: "my mobile," "my land line," "my cell." Even worse, as the earpieces become smaller and
smaller, it will be impossible to distinguish the cell phone yakkers from the truly delusional. But somehow that seems
appropriate to me.

Posted by jmcnally at August 15, 2002 12:54 PM

Comments

I totally used to feel that way, and still do to some extent. I was at dinner with some friends and all three of them were on their
phones while I sat silent. How rude and ridiculous is that. But I have to admit that it is really nice to have one a lot of the time.

Posted by: Clark on August 15, 2002 01:35 PM

It's the people with invisible earpieces that freak me out, too. You can't tell who they're talking to as they walk down the street
or push their shopping carts, and it's a little weird. When did it become okay to carry on a boisterous conversation in a
supermarket or a video store anyhow? I've got my own issues with cell phones—I'm a self-loathing txt msger, but I'm trying to
quit. At least us txters sorta keep to ourselves.

Posted by: Mike on August 15, 2002 05:16 PM

Actually, text messaging would be a great solution to the cell phone plague. At least you can't HEAR the stupid things people
are saying to each other :)

Posted by: James on August 15, 2002 05:30 PM

I absolutely agree with you. People have negligable manners to begin with, now have a toy that allows them to be truly rude
and offensive.

I had a layover at O'Hare for a few hours and tried to get away from all of the people holding personal cell phone calls that I
didn't want to listen to. It was impossible.

I guess it's kind of like second hand smoke, but instead of irritating our lungs, it irritates our ears. Actually, it irritates more than
that!

Posted by: Mary on August 15, 2002 08:32 PM

There was a comedian a while back who had a joke that she was driving down the freeway, swerving all over the place,
bumping into cars and knocking the cell phones out of everyones' hands. If only I could get away with it ....

Posted by: michaelbrown on August 15, 2002 09:22 PM

Don't move to England then. Everyone in England owns a mobile phone, so much so that the phone networks now have the
problem as to how to continue selling them considering everyone already owns one. They now have to pursuade you that the
phone you own is, at just over a year old, embarrassingly out of style, and entice you with the newest $800 model free of
charge, if you change networks and sign up a 12 month contract.

All your comments are valid, and could be heard in England a few years ago. However such complaints have diminished as
mobile phones have completely taken over and are now an indispensible part of English life, it would be considered quite
normal to send and receive anything up to 40 text messages a day. Indeed, the clincher of many network enticing deals is how
many free text messages a deal offers each month (and it never costs to receive text messages or calls in England).

Andy

Posted by: Andy on August 16, 2002 09:49 AM

i got a phone solely for the purpose of calling into the office after 6pm. after 6pm the door was locked and we were not given
keys. so if i went out for a bag of chips or a plate of poutine then i had to call to get in. then i was laid off.

the phone hung around for a few months not being used. then we moved to TO where i activated it again and it became
indispensible in the calling of landlords and supers for possible apts. i must have put $200 in long distance calling Mtl from TO
and vice versa.

now it sits on the shelf again.

Posted by: tbit on August 18, 2002 07:25 PM

I think you are mistaking the symbol for the problem it represents, but I know what you mean. It isn't cell phones, its a world
with no sense of etiquette for their use. It goes along with the overall decay of etiquette in response to a philosophy of
tolerance. It's more important to let people do their thing, even if it really has a distinctly negative effect on society.

Personally, I don't find cell phones any more annoying than real phones, although they take the telephone's intrusiveness to the
next level. Maybe I'll institute a time slot when I'll accept phone calls, and otherwise, leave a message. I hate getting phone calls
right in the middle of doing something. It's just as bad if my phone interrupts me as if someone else's phone interrupts me.

On a side note, James, I never thought I'd ever read a trite term like "fat cats" in your blog.

l8r

Posted by: Brent on August 18, 2002 09:01 PM

I know what you mean about the earpiece things. I constantly thing people have lost it. Talking to themselves,
EVERYWHERE. Haha.

But cell phones are good for some things.

I don't have a land line so my cell phone is it.
When I walk anywhere alone, I dial a friends number or 911 and keep my thumb on the SEND button for those just in case
moments.

There's other good stuff but sometimes it gets a bit ridiculous. :)

Posted by: liz! on August 19, 2002 12:11 PM

cellphones are a GREAT source of communication it's just these ppl who spend ages on them and little 8yr olds with them. I
consider them to be rude when you're in a library and it's meant to be quite and theres ppl blabbing on their cellphones
other than that they're great and I can't go anywhere without them

Posted by: meghan arps on August 20, 2002 08:32 PM

Ask yourself: why do I dislike cell phones?
ill manners: at one time, cars had an extra charge for turn signals. Then they were seen as a safety feature and came free. Now
all have them and most drivers no longer use them. Why?

I hated the time when typewriters replaced pens; and hated the time when computers replaced typewriters; and I still miss my
quill pen which is long gone because of fountain pens...moral?

Posted by: freddie on August 28, 2002 02:45 PM

Everyone who says cell phones are a blessing deserve to be shot. They are useless and impractical if you are not a person of
any real importance. Like policepeople and medical staff ON CALL ONLY. It's so frustrating seeing all those self-important
morons on their cell phones while they drive, swerving and slowing down, and sporatically slamming on their brakes. There
was a study that showed that people who talk for long lengths of times on their phones had the reaction time of a druck driver.
Do you believe it? I do. I wish I could just ram everyone off the road when I see them driving with a cell phone pasted to their
ear, and hopefully flip over their impractical SUV's they almost always drive. I hope all those ass clowns get brain tumors.

Posted by: Jessica on November 8, 2002 10:36 AM

I fuckin' hate 'em too!!!!!!!!1

at college everyone and their fucking brother has one. what the fuck is their so much to talk about. "im in the library
now...dadadadada" all of you just shut the fuck up!!!!!!!!!!11

Posted by: mark on November 13, 2002 09:13 PM

I think their toys for adults and status symbols for kids and losers. GROW UP

Posted by: jim on December 26, 2002 11:58 PM

I HATE cell phones. I agree with everything you said. It's just another huge way for people to be inconsiderate and annoy
everyone around them. Cell phones have transformed the world into a louder, more obnoxious, more annoying place. I hate
cell phones. If you do too, check out <a rel=nofollow target=_blank href="http://phonebashing.com,">http://phonebashing.com,</a> a site where they smash cell phones, or <a rel=nofollow target=_blank href="http://thecobs.com,">http://thecobs.com,</a> a
band that hates cell phones and smashes them at concerts.

Posted by: Keith Muck on February 27, 2003 05:46 PM

Seriously, I've never talked to anyone who feels the same as me about those things. I commute to school in Chicago and I can't
go somewhere for 2 senconds without hearing some asshole blabbing loud as fuck. Then on the train, it's even worse, because
you're stuck in there, and in every single car there's at least 2 or 3 jerks having that exact same stupid cell phone conversation.
Everywhere I go, I can't escape those things, it's impossible!!! And those annoying ring tones, everytime I hear one of those go
off it makes me cringe! If anybody else feels the same as me let me know.

Posted by: Keith Muck on February 27, 2003 05:50 PM

I hate them too but I don't think we are going to do anything about it. They everywhere now, the movies, the golf course, the
beach, dinner, there is no escape. It is definately a technology that I would love to give back if I could. They have made on
already stupid society worse. My only hope is that some sort of rule or law is started to govern when and where they can be
used. Who knows how long that will take. These things really have changed my quality of life. I Hate them!

Posted by: David on March 18, 2003 11:59 AM

Cell phone users are the epitome of rudeness these days. I was at a wedding where right in the middle of the vows, the groom's
cell phone rang in his pocket. He ANSWERED THE CALL IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS WEDDING.....what the hell kind of
idiocy is this? He didn't care that he held up his own wedding for some stupid call where he relayed everything that was going
on. If I was the bride there I'd leave the bastard at the altar!

Posted by: Bo on May 3, 2003 07:14 PM

please post more comments, I will visit this site again

Posted by: ip address on May 4, 2003 03:54 AM

Its not the cell phones themselves that bother me, its the idiots who own them. Yeah there are those rare moments when it
would be good to have a cell phone but i mean come on people do you really need it attached to your hip every five seconds?
I have friends whos "cell covers" change to match what they are wearing. How sick is that? An than there is the wide selection
of Keytones and rings you can have, So that everywhere you go you hear bethoven's nineth being screamed at you octives
higher than it was ever intended to be played at. Every where you go you hear it. "im out hit the cell" Sometimes i wish i could
take those suggestions literally and smash the meaningless wad of plastic into tiny peices.

Posted by: Kel on May 4, 2003 05:38 PM

First I want to say that I am Dutch, so excuses for my mistakes in English.In the Netherlands I think I am the only person
without a mobile. (As we call cellphones in Holland)I really hate those things. Peopel talking everywhere, anytime the most
irritating bullshit to one another. And those horrible ring-tones.What's wrong with using your phone at home???

Posted by: Frans Leliveld on May 4, 2003 10:26 PM

I largely agree with the anti-mobile phone comments posted by my learned colleges previously. My problem with mobile
phones goes a little deeper than the obvious frustration with those who are without adequate phone etiquette, however. I have
problems with how mobiles make the individual accountable to everyone who has their number (friends, co-workers, parents)
and how the individual is expected to be in constant contact if they have a mobile. This is why I do not own a mobile phone.

Posted by: Chris Prunty on May 12, 2003 08:29 AM

IT IS a waste of money!!

Posted by: MOODY on May 12, 2003 10:38 PM

Cell phones can be a practical tool if used properly and in moderation. Otherwise, there's no reason to be on the phone as
much as people are. It's almost as if people tell everyone they know exactly what they're doing and where they are. This must
save a lot of time later in the evening when one would tell another about their day in its entirety. Also, there's a subtle kind of
beauty that goes with leaving your house and knowing that no one can get in touch with you. Sometimes it's better not to talk.

Posted by: Ben on June 2, 2003 12:51 PM

I think cell phones were invented so people could have yet another excuse to be obnoxious and rude. I particularly think
women are the worst offenders...any excuse to talk about nothing is a good one. Having a cell allows them to talk all day, while
shopping, on the toilet, in line at the bank, at the gym on a machine, or driving their huge hunk of SUV across 3 lanes on the
expressway...without looking. I'm so damn sick of having to get out of the way of some idiot talking on their phone...man or
woman, driving or walking. They don't look, they are unaware, and they enjoy being clueless as they show the whole world
how important they are. I swear some folks just walk around with them on their ears even if not talking to anyone. Just the
need to have that damn thing on their ear must be like some sort of comfort, like a drug. They probably sleep with them like
teddy bears.

Other than that, they're great.

Posted by: kris on July 14, 2003 11:21 AM

The real crux of the mobile phone issue (I'm a 20 year-old ex-user) is the bubble effect. It's the final nail in the coffin of
community. If the man on the bus starts talking to you, you can now avoid the intellectual challenge of directing his attention
away from you (if he's annoying) or the prospect of an interesting human-to-human conversation (if he's nice). Either way, you
never need find out, as you can simply hide yourself in your phone, and that is his indication to sod off: you are no longer there
- you are somewhere else. Which brings me to another crucial point: the culture of discontent. We are far less happy to be
where we are any more (our complsive neo-imperial holidaying habit also tells us this). If we come out of a meeting and have a
walk to get to the bus stop, how many of us will switch on our phones and spend that walk communicating with someone
somewhere else, instead of looking at the trees or noticing an old friend over the road (who hasn't seen you cos he's got his
head in a text message...)?
There is this fantastic feeling of liberation (I felt it often when I owned a phone) when you come out of a meeting, a concert, a
show, and you are allowed to open up two hundred potential lines of communication - or however many numbers you have in
your phone'book'. You feel that you have returned to the world, when actually you have regained the ability to escape from the
world or the place you are in. We like that feeling now. That is what I mean by discontent. A lack of focus, a restlessness.
Apart from putting us all into bubbles, and encouraging discontent and short attention spans, these things have radically
transformed etiquette in most parts of life. If you really think about it, it is phenominally rude to be in someone's company while
your phone is on. You are then potentially in the company of hundreds more, who could interrupt you at any point. There is no
way that you can engage with your companion to the same degree as if you were disconnected from your mobile 'community'.
Nowadays, if you arrange to meet a friend for a drink, you are arranging to meet not only them, but everyone they know; the
chances of you getting their undivided attention for an evening are minimal. Even if their phone is off, they will wonder in the
back of their mind who might have tried to contact them.
One quick point: they are the ultimate consumer accessory. Think about it: who introduced and encouraged us all to get mobile
phones (and still do)? People who want to make money, that's who. Are O2 and T-Mobile public services? British Telecom
certainly was, but then that was in a public-spirited age, so perhaps we are all content now to be private, privatised,
best-deal-obsessed quick-fix-freaks.

Think back about ten years. Hmm. No mobile phones. Things seemed to work rather well, didn't they? In fact, weren't bus and
train journies much more relaxing? No-one seemed to be crying out for some magical invention to save us all from imminent
doom and disorganisation. In fact, the odd flashy businessman with a silly car and a silly phone got laughed at by, well, pretty
much everyone.

What short memories we all have.

Posted by: Mike on July 20, 2003 03:35 PM

I hate them. I'm sitting in a public library right now and some asshole is using his cell phone. Despite signs on the doors pleading
for people NOT to use cell phones here. Amazing.

Posted by: Matt on July 22, 2003 08:54 PM

The thing is, there's no goddamn Need to walk around yakking away on a phone all day. I really don't so much care about
how rude people can be, it's the whole PRINCIPLE of the thing that drives me nuts. Originally they were for businessmen and
yuppies but in order to make big bucks the current trend's to sell them to any and all assholes, even children. You should've
seen my aunt after she got hers (she's a natural chatterbox bimbette) Everywhere she'd go she'd be flaunting this frigging box
like she was Someone Special because she had a portable phone!

If people want to yap, that's their business--but when they Get In My Way, that's something Else!
Good example: yapping while driving. I've seen a whole Convoy of cars crawling along because some yuppie yapping Bitch in
the front of the line was making the traffic crawl because her precious conversation was more imporant than driving and paying
attention to the speed limit (should be going 40 not 15 MPH!). And I won't even get into safety issues, which are blindly
apparent.

Bottom line: there's no Need for this crap. If I want to make a phone call I'll do it the old fashioned way. Right now I'm
probably the only guy in NJ who's never used nor owned one of those yuppie yapping boxes. Never have, never will!

Posted by: James Dixon on July 27, 2003 06:53 PM

CELL PHONES ARE EVIL!

They destroy peoples' minds. Turn them into babbling idiots. It's a chatterbox's dream come true: the ultimate toy to allow that
mouth to go 24 hours a day if necessary anyplace anytime! People are no longer Reading (and by that I mean Books and
newspapers) but instead are walking around gabbing mindless drivel ("I'm in front of the dolly dress shop now, it looks nearly
empty, oh there's a nice bird, and there's a totally awesome BMW, and I think I'll walk over Here now..").

Wherever you go you SEE THESE FOOLS wearing out their vocal cords with the things. When they're Eating they're
yapping. When they're driving they're yapping. When they're crapping they're yapping (go into a public rest room and see them
talking in the stalls!).

And please don't tell me they're better and cheaper than traditional nailed-down telephones. The calling plans have Scam
written all over them. They run on batteries which have to be recharged or replaced. They can be misplaced, lost, or damaged
Easily.

Posted by: JD on July 27, 2003 07:08 PM

Here is a good one for you. i was in a little mom and pop store. there was like a pre teen using food stamps. when all of a
sudden you hear a cell phone ring and low and behold out he pulls a cell phone.
I work my ass off but make to much for food stamps but can not afford a cell phone.
ahhh there is something wrong here

Posted by: km on July 29, 2003 04:13 PM

I think it would be interesting for some comic genius to to think of some kind of remark to noisy mobile users that we can all
use to protect ourselves from this invidiuous invasion of our privacy that is the mobile phone. The comment should be not be
aggressive (cos that would just make the phone user shitty and ignore you) but should be kinda wryly funny, acknowledging
that the phone user is human and deserving of respect (appealing to their better side, hey, everyone has one!), but that at this
point in time, while using their phone, they are pissing off everyone around them. And then send this comment round the world
so it becomes available to everyone. In the western world now we've got many smokers apologetic for their vile habit, lets
work out some way to do the same to mobile phone users.

Posted by: chris on July 29, 2003 07:31 PM

NOt 5 minutes ago I'm in the men's room, standing at the urinal enjoying some nice quiet relief. In comes one of these
self-involved so&so's, he stands in the next stall, wazoo in one hand cell phone in the other - I shoulda peed on his leg!

Posted by: Rick on July 30, 2003 01:08 PM

Sorry about the last essay - I got a bit carried away, but then this issue does trouble me more than anything at the moment. I
have recently taken up smoking again, after going a whole year fag-free, however my mother is more pleased that I have also
relinquished my mobile phone than she is distressed by my smoking again. This way round, at least my mind is safe from
zombification, even if my lungs take a bit of a battering. I think I was partly driven back into smoking by how much mobile
phones were depressing me, and also because the ignorant, moralising New Labour Government, whose National Health
Service funding comes almost entirely from cigarette taxation while they portray the smoker as some sort of mutated social
recluse, in contrast treats the mobile phone user as an upstanding citizen who is wise to be embracing these wonderfully
modern times (and lining the pockets of Blair's business buddies, no doubt). Mobiles have certainly quickly become more of a
widespread public irritant than smoking did in its early years (not that I speak as a witness, of course...). Some people, as
many used to, still like the scent of various tobaccos (although we are given a much more artificial, flavourless crop these days).
How many can say that they like the noise of somebody else's phone ringing?

The most disturbing sight for me at the moment (and its everywhere) is parents with their young children, but of course, not
actually with them. I often see toddlers pulling on trouser legs and screaming for attention, and the parent actually reprimands
them for interrupting their mobile phone conversation! How rude of the child to expect to have a proper, loving upbringing! I
fear for future generations...

Posted by: Mike on August 11, 2003 11:47 AM

I live in Turkey where people are obsessed about cell phones. I am the only exception.

Last month, I went to a travel agency to book a place at a hotel for the holidays. They asked for all kinds of info to fill out on
the computer. They asked for my cell phone and I told them I don't have one. They did not believe me and explained to me
that they would not contact me by the number, they just needed it for info. When I told them again I did not have one, the
women behind the counter called the manager. He said "Okay then give us a friend's cell phone number?" I told them that it did
not make any sense to give a friend's cell number. The woman once again told me that it's just for info and they would not use
it. "Just any number" she said. So, my reply was "Okay then, just enter there any number please. Make up a number." And
that's exactly what she had to do.

Posted by: Hakan on August 22, 2003 04:44 AM

And, let's not forget their use for cheating on your spouse/significant other. Hide the bill, and it's hard for the spouse to find out
with whom you've been talking. The same goes for e-mail, IM, etc.
They can be a great convenience, but they can also be used for PURE EVIL!

Posted by: Jay on August 29, 2003 02:21 PM

For the life of me, I don't get the whole cell phone thing. Somebody needs to explain what the big deal is about a FUCKING
PHONE! They've been around for alomst a century. Is it a big freaking deal because you can take it to a ballgame or to the
gym or to a mall? I could see people getting excited about the internet, it was a new thing and a pretty cool one at that. But cell
phones? If there is a corner of the planet where these things don't exist, let me know. And build me a house because I'm
moving there. Permanently! I'm so glad to read these posts because I hate them so much. People who yak on these things all
day are:

1) very inecure. They feel a stupid electronic gadget is going to somehow make them 'cool' or 'important'. I get crap all the time
for not owning one of these things and I always just say, "I don't need a cell phone to fell good about myself."

2) in dire need of a life. If they had meaningful things in their lives to truly occupy their time and energy, they wouldn't have time
to gab about every minute, unmeaningful detail of their day.

I was hoping that when these things came out, the initial novelty of having one would wear off and people would get sick of
them. But it hasn't happened yet. Hopefully, some day it will be considered "un-hip" and not so cool to be carting one of these
things around every step you take. When that happens, these insecure idiots won't be able to get rid of them fast enough.

Posted by: Ted on August 29, 2003 02:39 PM

Alexander Graham Bell is the Antichrist.

I understand why people bring cellular phones with them when they travel by car. If the car breaks down or runs out of gas in
the middle of nowhere or if the driver gets lost (the latter two mishaps of course being the result of a nincompoop driver, which
most people are),
a cellular phone comes in handy to call a tow truck or AAA or to call someone for directions. These are emergency situations
which, by the rule I have established (see above), allow for extended phone usage.

I do *not* understand why people bring cellular phones with them to the mall and while waiting in line at, say, Electronics
Boutique, decide to call up three different friends and ask them
which Sony PlayStation game they should buy: Spice World or Flintstones Bowling? If you
encounter people like this (and I'm sure you do regularly...they're everywhere), I give you three different ways to publicly point
out their assery:

A) "I beg your pardon, but your Spice World-Flintstones Bowling dilemma is not even *close* to being an emergency, so stop
tying up the satellite's phone lines and annoying everyone in the store with your imbecilic babble."

B) "Out of the thousands of video games here in Electronics Boutique, only a life-threateningly
gay dunce like you would find Spice World and Flitstones Bowling to be the two most appealing."

C) "You sir (or ma'am), need a severe golf-club beating for not being able to formulate your own opinion about something as
relatively inexpensive and ultimately inconsequential as video games."

Harsh words, but true nonetheless. Of course, you'll have to slightly modify my examples to suit the store whose line you're
waiting in. The phone abuser will feel stupid and, in turn, you will feel better.

Note: Reacting to a cellular phone abuser at the mall in this way *might* backfire. Chances are, the mall will be *filled* with
ignorant, phone abusing human-asscracks who will react negatively to your rant because they all exhibit the same behavior as
the original phone abuser. Use with
caution...although I bet if you are reading this web site, you already have enough common sense to use caution without me
having to tell you.

Posted by: Rob on September 6, 2003 09:20 AM

I hate cell phones also and agree with everyone who does. I had one for a while it was suppose to be for emergency use only
like in a life or death situation or if I was stranded out in my car in a bad area and didnt want to get mugged. But no it turned in
to this annoying nag. Every where I was people would call me mainly my parents and nag me to do something. Why dont
people understand that when you leave that means you want to be left alone not getting contacted on a cell phone and then
your expected to always be there. Not to mention if you cant make it to the cell phone and your at home you barely get to one
and just because you didnt get there in time someone calls the other one and if its your parents they gripe you out over it. I
suggest anyone that has this problem as I did and feel the same way buy a trac phone there in expensive and buy only a few
minutes enough that you could use if you had car trouble and then dont give anyone the number. Thank you. ANTI CELL
PHONE USER.

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