Most ridiculous cell phone calls

[disneysteve]

ruvidu - I agree 100%. Unless someone is a local, I can't imagine carrying a cell phone in the parks. I'm on vacation with my family, not at work. When I leave my office, my partner is on call for the practice. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to travel out of the area.

Funny non-Disney cell phone story: We were in Boston 2 weeks ago on vacation. We were outside of Quincy Market watching a street performer - juggler on a unicycle. Partway through the show, someone in the audience was talking on a cell phone. The juggler rolled over and took the phone from her, said hi to the person on the phone, then asked, "What rides a unicycle and hangs up?" Then proceeded to hang up the phone, slip it into his shirt pocket, and go on with his show.

Steve

 

[memymomonica]

Hey 1houraway,

As you know, we are about 10 hours away. We are headed to Disneyworld for our first time on Sept. 27th. The trip had to be postponed a few times. Having a Marine for a dad, I'm sure you know the drill. I married my Marine 13 years ago, and we are taking our 5 year old daughter. His float got extended twice while they were in Iraq. Was your dad at Camp Lejuene or the air station? I am excited. We have a 2 bedroom villa at Old Key West. My parents and brother are meeting us there. Instant babysitters!!! We are doing the first night of MNSSHP. Hope those are all the right initials. We are going to do the luau too. I have read a lot of bad stuf about, but none of us have been to Hawaii. So, nothing to compare it to. Not to mention Lilo & Stitch got my daughter hooked on anythign Hawaiian. I think they could do a 3 minute hula and she would go nuts. Any good tips?

 

[Blueberry]

Just a note here..Cell Phones work great in the parks to stay in touch with family members who are not with you and whom you need to meet up with. We have a nationawide plan and I DO NOT call them on a ride or while in line, just when we need to change details or something happens..Cheaper than buying walkie talkes if you have a nationwide plan with no roaming

On the emergency note..on 9/11 that is the only phone we had to get in touch with folks back home from WDW that we were ok as the phone lines were so crowded.

My cell phone will be with me always....but not turned on, so as not to annoy folks.

 

[Love Tigger]

I usually only carry my cell phone around the parks on my first day just to check in and see if our room is ready. Both DH & I usually call in once every other day to check our voicemail at work. (You wouldn't believe how many people will leave messages even when you state you are out of the office until such and such a day!) We also check our messages at home. If I'm not making a call, the phone's not on. Why should it be? Only DH has the number.

 

[WDWAurora]

In line can be annoying...For example, if you're stuck in the standby line for 45 minutes or so (no flames about using standby, we were waiting for our RNR fastpass) for TOT and you're a late 20s guy talking to one of his buddies about his remodel on his house and how "*$%#&(" DOPE it's gonna be, and how TOTALLY wasted you and your wife and your best friend and his wife got last night, and you're gonna do it again tonight and watch Fantasmic drunk, etc, etc, etc....I just don't want to hear it!! He was on the phone when we got in line, and on it when we got out....AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

I leave mine in the room. I call my parents and my boyfriend (I usually go with my grandparents) when we get back. They understand that we're there to have fun, and they get pretty annoyed by inconsiderate cell usage also, so they don't expect me to take it.

 

[sha_lyn]

How much money do you have to make a year before you start thinking of talking business on a phone around a crowd as a vacation.?

Now if we subsitute the word 'physicians' with any other career does this make it okay??

Example:
"however as a family of two busy 'ditchdiggers', we are always on the phones' , etc.

Why do you assume because you are 'physicians' you are any better or any busier than others? Are you more important? Are you perfroming surgery over the phone? You must be using the camera phones so you can at least assist with delicate surgeries while "vacationing" in another state!

I'll be "careful judging people in the parks" that I see using phones. Rude is rude - no matter the occupation.

Yep I'm sure my sisters patients had rather she not of called in prescriptions for them, or referred them to other dentist, etc while she was on vacation. After all not unconvincing you is more important than the health of her patients.

Sorry but I think it is more rude to judge others on what you see as their rude behavior, than it is for someone to conduct business on a cell phone in a park.

It really seems you have a huge chip on your shoulder when it comes to Drs. Can you really not acknowledge that they do need to still conduct business while on vacation, while a ditch digger would not.

 

[Tiiiigergirl]

Prefacing my comments with the statement that I don't carry a cell phone into the parks with me.

The only place it bothers me if someone is talking (cell phone, to their neighbor etc) is in a ride or show. Why does it bother some people to listen to a cell phone conversation but not casual conversation in line? I really am curious. I figure if they are talking in the open, then they need to be aware that the conversation isn't private and I might listen in even if it is not on purpose.

I don't assume someone with a cell phone is important, I also don't think they are rude unless they are using it in on a ride or in a show. Of course if anyone is talking during a ride or show I think they're rude!

 

[brunoflipper]

1houraway- get a life... what a sad, wretched soul... i never said, nor have i ever felt that i am "better" than anyone... we don't take phone calls on rides, in theaters or restaurants... nor do our phones "ring" in any of those situations... we don't make a dime off of phone calls from our patients... in most cases, phone calls are not "bill-able" nor are they reimbursed... the point was, you have no idea why/who is on the phone and for what purpose... maybe they are taking a call from you about one of your meds, that you forgot to refill, that might save your miserable life over the weekend... on second thought, maybe your doctor won't take that call... but that would be rude to let you suffer and as you said "Rude is rude"

disneysteve- as a board certified md and a medical director for a large single specialty group in a private tertiary care facility, i am well versed in hipaa regs... as i previously stated, i do not have phone conversations on rides... nor, do i use my phone in public places within ear-shot of others while referring to patients while revealing specific details about any individual... but my wife and i have been called practically everytime of day, no matter where we were regardless of what we were doing (despite what we might have told the hospital operator)... we have chosen this life and we have consciouly made a commitment to be available for our patients when they need us... additionally, my administrative responsibilities contractually require that i am "available" 24/7... continue to practice medicine as you see fit and we will do the same

 

[questdiver32]

I used the cell phone on my last trip...for the first time...
it was nice to make an "audible" call for PS when the rain changed the plan for the evening...only time i noticed "roaming" was in the library at the adventurers club...
Ed

 

[propchick]

I use my cell phone at WDW all the time, but my guideline is that if it wouldn't be rude for me to be talking to a live companion, then it isn't rude for me to be talking on the phone in the same tone or volume. So no phone on rides, or where it would obviously spoil a moment, but everywhere else (yes, INCLUDING restaurants) is fair game. It kills me when people glare at me in WDW restaurants (even little fast-food places) for sitting, eating, and quietly talking on my phone. They can't even hear me talking, but they're still glaring. These are usually the same people with 5 loudly screaming brats running around the restaurant....people have some very strange perceptions of manners these days.

The worst I ever experienced, though, was during the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival. I was slowly walking down that Walk of Roses, out of the way of people trying to bulldoze their way through, and was on the phone, describing each of the roses to my blind grandmother. (Which ended up being one of the most magical moments I've had with my grandmother in a very long time.) People were SO NASTY at me!! How on earth was that bothering them, or taking away from their magic?!

 

[sha_lyn]

It kills me when people glare at me in WDW restaurants (even little fast-food places) for sitting, eating, and quietly talking on my phone. They can't even hear me talking, but they're still glaring. These are usually the same people with 5 loudly screaming brats running around the restaurant....people have some very strange perceptions of manners these days.

LOL... I'veo nly seen one episode on Sex in the City (had HBO? at the hotel we were on vaction at last week). The episode was showed one character eating a restaurant takign a call while a bratty child was making a lot of noise. she was told they didn't allow cell phone calls in the restaurant. she told the waiter then he needed to do somethign about "that"(the child). He acted like she asked him to exicuit all kids or something. When she ask the mother to make the child behave (which was doen in a rude manner) the kid threw food in her face. The mom's reaction "honey that's not very nice". I love the characters reaction "well, I've made my point and he made his"

 

[goofyernmost]

OK, now everyone has gone overboard. No one ever said that there were not times when it was appropriate or absolutely necessary. That's why we have advanced technology, to use it.

My point was that, just like the direction this thread has gone, it is over the top. It is a toy now. Just something to do with our hands. I said before I see people ignoring the "friends" they are with while talking endlessly on their cells. People with "virtually" no income other than public assistance talking to others discussing (and this conversation was one that I overheard) what time to meet at the food shelf for their free meal. Yet they could afford to be on the cell phone endlessly.

My criticism was not for the usage of the phone but the over-usage of it. A lot can be read into the statement made that,"(despite what we might have told the hospital operator)...", you received the call anyway. Well, when you told the hospital operator not to contact you, you pretty much ended your feeling of responsibility to take calls. If the operator would have followed your instructions, you would not have recieved the call, someone else would have had to deal with the problem (I'm sure there must be others as capable)! When you told the operator not to call you in effect you "turned off the phone". But then you kept it turned on and received the calls anyway. But that really isn't what the discussion is about. That comes under "necessary" phone conversations. We are mostly talking about the "yeah, I took out the garbage this morning and saw my neighbor mowing his lawn, and I told him that he had a crab grass problem and that a friend of mine had the same, blah, blah, blah", type of phone conversation. It can wait for some other time. Do I care if you waste your time doing that. No, not at all, as long as it doesn't create a problem for me, like in a show or while you are driving.

I said it before and I'll say it again...if you have set yourself into the mode that you must be accessable at all times and you are happy with that, who are we to stop you. You must realize though that some of us think it looks pretty silly to constantly have that piece of plastic stuck on your ear.

 

[disneysteve]

Originally posted by brunoflipper
as i previously stated, i do not have phone conversations on rides... nor, do i use my phone in public places within ear-shot of others while referring to patients while revealing specific details about any individual

brunoflipper - You'd be surprised, or probably not surprised, by how many of our colleagues can't seem to follow these simple rules. Its amazing how many times I've been in a restaurant, mall, etc. and overheard a cell phone conversation of a somewhat delicate nature clearly being conducted in an inappropriate setting for all to hear.

I absoloutely understand that sometimes you have to be available. There are some things that just can't be easily delegated when you're the one running the show. Bottom line is exactly what I quoted above. Its the folks who don't do this that I think most of us have a problem with.

Didn't mean my original post to be critical - sorry if it came across that way.

Steve

 

[skiwee1]

When I go on a WDW trip I only go with my mom and DD. So DH and DS are at home. The only way to get ahold of me is by cellphone. That being said, I still leave the phone in the room and just check it when I return for messages. I check in at night with them but it is still in my room. If I didn't then DS would be calling all the time asking if he could order a pizza!

 

[brunoflipper]

goofyernmost- the reference about "despite what we might have told the hospital operator" is regarding the fact that calls have many origins and that they even though one may not actually "be on call" for ones practice or group... an occasional patient call will get through the operator... there are also some patients that, due to their specific diagnosis/personality, require/feel much better having our cell numbers... it sounds excessive, but if i din't give them my cell some of them would end up in the ED everytime i left town simply because i wasn't available... but i digress, as does this thread... otherwise, your points are well taken...

disneysteve- your post did not come off as critical... no offense was taken... i was just concerned about this becoming a threadjack about how evil/lazy/money grubbing/arrogant doctors are ... i can't sit here and watch that, i get to much of it on the nightly news...

 

[TinkKel]

All I can say, is I wish I had a Dr. like Brunoflipper! (No, I'm not being a smarta$$) Seriously, in 25 years through my and my two son's illnesses (some requiring specialist) NEVER have I had access to my or their doctors 24/7! I have never had them call me, or accept calls from me, after-hours unless they happend to be the doctor on call. I have to say, I'm really impressed to see someone so devoted to their job!

 

[sha_lyn]

I have never had them call me, or accept calls from me, after-hours unless they happend to be the doctor on call. I have to say, I'm really impressed to see someone so devoted to their job!

this is one of the many reasons we loved the kids old Ped so much (she's now retired). The night DD was born the Hospital called the practice/service. They inturn had the Ped on call call in. hoever the service also knew that Dr Musser was to always be contacted for births (and some other patient calls). The nurse was so impressed when Dr Musser called just minutes after the Dr on call. She said in all her yrs there, that Dr Musser was the only one who did that.

 

[brunoflipper]

tinkkel: i simply emulated the way my pediatrician practiced (and still does) when i was a kid... as a parent and a pediatrician i think it is just the right thing to do (my wife is an FP and practices the same way)... at times it is an inconvenience but overall, we feel it saves us a lot of headaches in the long run... people tend to be much more selective about why they call when they know your always available... now it is officially a threadjack

 

[disneysteve]

Originally posted by brunoflipper
tinkkel: i simply emulated the way my pediatrician practiced (and still does) when i was a kid... as a parent and a pediatrician i think it is just the right thing to do (my wife is an FP and practices the same way)... at times it is an inconvenience but overall, we feel it saves us a lot of headaches in the long run... people tend to be much more selective about why they call when they know your always available... now it is officially a threadjack

It is also much easier for me to deal with an issue for a patient that I know well, than for my partner to field the call when he doesn't know the patient. Saves a lot of headaches and unnecessary treatment. Also helps keep folks out of the ER.

Steve

 

[sandyneck]

Wow, did I start all this? When I first started this thread this is not what I intended. I do not think using your cell phone while you are walking in the park is wrong. I was posting on what I called a ridiculous use of a cell phone, screaming into it with your head between your legs during a very loud shoot out on the Great Movie Ride. There are times it is very handy to have your cell phone at the park, but not on rides or in shows. I do not agree with the people who try and "share the magic" with someone not there by giving a running commentary of the ride or show while others are trying to enjoy it.