Cell Phone Abusers

by David Sloan 

Have you noticed how many people have become slaves to their cell phones? I am not talking about everybody that has a cell phone, myself included, just those that cannot live without one. You can tell who they are because they are always on the phone wherever they go.

You see them driving their cars talking on their phones. The next time you sit behind someone a little too long at a stop sign, take a look at what they are doing; they are probably dialing or answering their cell phone. The cell phone driver always cuts the corner in curves and intersections because they only have one hand to drive with; the other hand is holding a cell phone to their ear.

You can see them talking on their phones in Wal-Mart and at the grocery store, walking down the isles or standing the middle of them oblivious to the other shoppers. Must they really have help deciding which brand of bread to buy?

The other day a woman answered her phone in the waiting room of a doctor’s office I was in. This in itself is not a bad thing, but she did not go outside to talk on her phone? Instead she proceeded to talk louder and louder into her phone trying to out talk everyone in the room. I believe everybody knows someone who uses their cell phone inconsiderately. I work with one at the fire station. He will talk on his phone at the dinner table, and in the evening he will sit in the room where everybody is trying to watch TV and talk on his phone which rings about every twenty to thirty minutes. The only way to get him to move is turn the TV up so loud he can’t hear or just browbeat him until he moves. Do these people really think anybody else is interested in their conversations?

 These are just a few of the ways people use cell phones without regard to the people around them. Some places are fighting back: states are enacting laws to make it illegal to use a cell phone while driving, and signs are popping up at businesses across the country asking people not use their cell phones. Movie theatres have always banned cell phone usage. Las Vegas casinos do not allow patrons to use cell phones at gaming tables. In better restaurants people are asked to leave the dining room to answer calls.

     Most cell phone abusers are not aware of their problem. Some just do not care about the people around them. It’s the “I got mine syndrome” which pervades so much of our society. In the end the way to solve this problem is not through laws or signs, but through the use of common sense and common courtesy in the way we use our cell phones, and live our lives. Just remember the next time you use your cell phone in public that the world didn’t stop because you answered your phone. Step to the side, talk normally, and let others get on with their lives

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