PSA Waiting room etiquette and cell phones

[WDWBarb]

There is nothing special about a cellphone in this regard, except that it is an artifact of society's progress, as compared to a land line. And I think that's really what's going on: that some portion of our society are essentially Luddite in perspective, and therefore seek opportunities to criticize progressive aspects of society.

Bicker, this is extremely well stated and something that I also find to be true. It's just like when I sit and read my Kindle. Someone will always have to make a comment to me that it's just not the same as reading a book. But it actually is?

 

[bicker]

I'm not sure if it is true, yet, but at some point, the Kindle (and similar devices) will represent a substantial improvement over books, in that they will (again, eventually) consume less of our world's scare resources, per reader-word-read, than the production of paper books.

And don't get me started on the ethical implications of how they bind books together...

 

[kaytieeldr]

Bicker, this is extremely well stated and something that I also find to be true. It's just like when I sit and read my Kindle. Someone will always have to make a comment to me that it's just not the same as reading a book. But it actually is?

Well, it's different from reading a book. Not necessarily better, not necessarily worse - just different. I don't have, and don't want, a Kindle or similar device because I like the whole sensation and action of reading the book - enjoying the jacket, the smell (of a new book, anyway ), reading the blurb, reading about the author, seeing the picture on the back of the jacket... reading the index if there is one, turning the pages... even falling asleep with the open book on my belly - or over my eyes.

But it wouldn't surprise me at all to find out a Kindle is more convenient. After X number of books plus the cost of the Kindle, the per-book cost is cheaper, right? And I wouldn't be surprised to learn that there's a simple way to search for a particular passage in case, instead of having to flip through a whole book trying to find a part you remember? And you can pick up exactly where you left off, whereas if an actual book accidentally closes it's a lot harder to find your exact place?

Those are all guesses, but they seem to be reasonable advantages of an electronic book. But I still wouldn't give up the old way. I've moved from 45s to LPs to 8-tracks to cassettes to CDs, and I've moved from BetaMax to videocassettes to DVDs - but you can't take away my books!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[bicker]

Don't electronic copies of books, presented on Kindle-like devices, including special features/additional material not found in the hard-copy book, such as author bibliographies? I'd expect to see advantages there similar to the advantages we see on DVDs and Blu-ray Discs, as compared to the old VHS tapes.

 

[bicker]

This is something I really don't know much about so I looked it up... and found some interesting stuff that I didn't know about Kindle-like devices. Built-in dictionary (to look up the hard words in non-fiction, I suppose , text-to-speech, wireless access to Wikipedia, Search the content of the book (wow!!), annotations (without ruining the book eh?), increase the text font size yourself (as I get older this becomes a lot more interesting), background music (not sure I would appreciate that).

But as far as I can see, no "special features/additional material".

 

[connorlevismom]

what planet do you live on..........LOL
of course its normal for a group of moms in a gymnastics waiting area to have conversations! especially since said group of moms have known each other for years thrown together by gymnastics team practice
again what is not normal is for one person to talk sooooo loud and long on a cell that said group of moms cannot even hear each other talk

Quiet conversations, yes. My son's school is FULL of moms who sit around and gab about where they bought their clothes or how hard their work-out was that morning. All while being completely unaware of others. Drives me NUTS!

Kristine

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

On a planet where your personal preferences don't prevail over that of others.

Loud talking is loud talking, whether there is a cellphone involved or not. And regular conversation is regular conversation, also whether there is a cellphone involved or not.

Absolutley!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

The forging of consensus, starting from categorical intolerance to something that we all can agree on, often does have twists and turns.

Sometimes so many--it requires Dramamine to get through it all.

 

[dimimi]

I've had this happen at 2 different places that I have worked. A group of let's say 4 are eating lunch in a small room. One of them will make a cell phone call and talk loudly. The rest of us can't hear each other talk....amazing...why can't they figure out to walk outside the room? Really, it leaves us all to sit there and wait until their conversation is over.

 

[ZeitgeistDuck]

Until the study is done, we'll have to agree to disagree. I think you cannot so readily dismiss the Luddite factor.

So now I have a mental image of roving bands of gymnastics moms busting up cell phones like 19th century frame breakers.

I wouldn't hesitate to have a conversation of any type on a cell in a waiting room, be it the doctor's office or the gym. There's nothing sacred about waiting rooms that demand silence or quiet. In fact I get irritated by the 'no cell' sign in the doctor's office. If you're going to make me sit here for 20 minutes past my appointment time, then dang it, I'm going to use that time to do whatever it is I need to do, even if its having a (quiet) convo about the sale at Old Navy. I don't care if someone doesn't want to hear it, if my bff were sitting next to me I'd be chatting with her sotto voce, so I have no hesitation chatting sotto voce on my cell.

As far as the person being loud, why didn't you just say something? I'm not afraid to tell a person to pipe down if they are shouting. I suspect the person didn't mean to be rude and just didn't realize how loud he was. I know I often don't. I don't hear all that well and sometimes slip into a louder voice than intended.

Anyway, gymanastics moms (and dance moms, soccer moms, hockey moms, etc - and I'm a dance mom, btw) are annoying and if I were some dude, I'd rather be on the phone too.

 

[bicker]

Sometimes so many--it requires Dramamine to get through it all.

Absolutely, but it is beneficial to society to draw us all away from any categorical intolerance. It's toxic.

In fact I get irritated by the 'no cell' sign in the doctor's office. If you're going to make me sit here for 20 minutes past my appointment time, then dang it, I'm going to use that time to do whatever it is I need to do, even if its having a (quiet) convo about the sale at Old Navy. I don't care if someone doesn't want to hear it, if my bff were sitting next to me I'd be chatting with her sotto voce, so I have no hesitation chatting sotto voce on my cell.

Yes, fair enough, though (after all this) I actually hate talking on the telephone (no matter what), so I'd be TXTing people.

Or perhaps TXTing is so newfangled that the Luddites will come at that sort of thing even more vigorously, as if the taptaptap on my cellphone's keyboard is even more annoying to them than me speaking to a friend (in my "indoor" voice) on the cellphone.