Like, Oh My... (you know the rest)

I was waiting for the elevator at school today and I heard two teenage girls talking behind me. They were both getting louder and louder and I thought, “How rude.” I then began to realize that their conversations were happening over each other; they weren’t talking to each other. I turned to look at them, and each of them was on their cell phone.

Of course.

It’s no wonder people have no communication skills in this day and age. Everywhere you go, someone has a cell phone attached to their head. Whether it’s walking down the street, driving in the car, or in the grocery store, people don’t seem to be able to survive without talking on their phones every waking moment.

I’ve been in line at the grocery store, and the person in front of me is on their phone. The checkout clerk will be trying to speak with them about something, and the customer continues blabbing into their phone, completely oblivious that the checkout clerk is saying anything. My husband Phil hates it so much, that when we walk by someone in the grocery store aisle who is on their phone, he starts talking exceptionally loud. I could be standing two feet away from him and he’ll shout, “What kind of oatmeal did you want?!” Lately, I’ve just walked away, pretending I don’t know him.

Phil isn’t wrong. People have become so dependent on having their cell phones going at all times, that they have forgotten what it’s like to be a human being. It’s like they’re some kind of cell phone robot that has no idea what it means to be courteous or attentive.
I’ve noticed that if someone is in a customer service situation, where the phone user is the customer, they will not stop their conversation when it is their turn, whether in a checkout line, customer service line, or any other line. They actually expect the person waiting on them to wait until their conversation is over.

That is… if it ever is over. I’ve witnessed transactions where the person on the phone never stops talking. Never gets off the phone. Never speaks to the person helping them. They don’t even take two seconds out of their precious phone time to say “thank you.” How pathetic is that?

I was standing in line at the pharmacy one day and I heard the woman behind me speaking in a language unfamiliar to me. I thought she was talking to someone that was with her, but I never heard another voice responding. I turned around, and she was pacing back and forth, looking agitated that she had to wait in line, and talking to herself. She wasn’t even on a cell phone! Or so I thought… She had one of those newfangled phones that attach to your ear. I wish people would realize how ridiculous they look.

Phil and I both have cell phones. Phil keeps his in the glove compartment of his truck and never turns it on. Well, he turns it on if he needs to call me about something, but that’s rare. Mine is usually in my purse, and only turned on when I’m on my way home from work. Lately, though, it’s been in my pocket on vibrate every waking hour of every day because our house is on the market, and I need to be available for the realtor and the agency. I can’t stand it, but everyone who knows me loves it, because they can reach me any time of the day now. Lucky for them (grin).