Your Talk Has Grown Tiresome

This could be bigger than the 'car to car' missle!

Could, "DON'T JAM ME BRO", be far off?

Maybe I'm weird, but I don't mind people talking on cell phones in the grocery store (Hon, what brand of this should I buy?), trains/buses (Hi, just wanted to let you know I'm going to be late to the meeting...) or even nail salons, as long as people aren't too loud and don't talk endlessly about personal subjects in public. The restroom stall or a business meeting are still not appropriate.

Yeah, ok - if hubby wants to call me from Macy's to ask, "Which slippers, dear, the pink or the white?" then that's OK. But the flaming loon at Shoprite a few weeks back who broadcast as loudly as possible in front of the butter about her philandering S.O. should definitely have been Zapped or Jammed. (By the time I got to the checkout I would have liked to done more than that, I must add. but that might get me in trouble.)

Ug, who has that much to say? That's what I don't get. I don't want to talk to people. I don't NEED to talk to people. I am fine by myself enjoying my own company. Talk away, but its the ADD slowness of it that bugs me. Can't manange to move their car or their cart as fast as they should do to defer to instead to a conversation.

Here's one of my favorites... see the guy out to a meal with his family sitting playing with his blackberry. Nothing says "family, you're not as important or as remotely interesting as whatever spam I might be getting on a Sunday afternoon" like this scenario. Nice.

When used as a telephone, for a period of under 5 or 6 minutes, they are okay. When used as the modern-day adult hula hoop for hours of "pleasure" they are a PITA to all but that user. But, they are here to stay, until the moral majority gets told by hollywood and T.V. what the next "Acceptable" electronic adult toy is, that they needed yesterday!
They don't really bother me, I just think it looks so silly. and in the car, they are dangerous.
'Yup, I don't have one. I did. I got sick of it.
T-Mobile is THE worst customer abuse - Oops, I mean service in the free world, IMO.

Great technology. I hope they also find a way to jam bad aftershave lotion. They should also find a way to ban Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, even if they do come from NJ.

The solution is courtesy and civility.

Yes, well, until the day that some brilliant genius invents a little black box on which you can press a button to instantly infuse cellphone-babbling social clods with "courtesty and civility", the next best solution seems to be this magical little device that forces them to shut the frig up whether they want to or not.

Silence!!

Now if only somebody could invent a similar device to disable blaring car alarms. And leaf blowers. Then I would be in a happy place.

Here's one of my favorites... see the guy out to a meal with his family sitting playing with his blackberry. Nothing says "family, you're not as important or as remotely interesting as whatever spam I might be getting on a Sunday afternoon" like this scenario. Nice.

Gee, has it occurred to you that the alternative might be that the guy's not with his family at all? What looks like "playing" to you might actually be another thing called "earning a living". Being able to handle some communications when I'm out and about is what ALLOWS me to be out and about with those whom I love. The old way was to miss out entirely while manning a desk.

Jam Frankie Valli? Is Jersey Boys such an annoyance?

Frankly, I love the guy.

Sing it loud Perlstein:

"You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you
You'd be like heaven to touch
I wanna hold you so much
At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive
You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you

Pardon the way that I stare
There's nothing else to compare
The sight of you leaves me weak
There are no words left to speak
So if you feel like I feel
Please let me know that it's real
You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you

I love you baby and if it's quite all right
I need you baby to warm the lonely nights
I love you baby, trust in me when I say
Oh pretty baby, don't bring me down I pray

Oh pretty baby, now that I've found you stay
And let me love you baby, let me love you

You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you
You'd be like heaven to touch
I wanna hold you so much
At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive
You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you"

Instead of a passive aggressive response like pressing a button, gather some courage and try direct civil confrontation.

Thank You Prof. For bring back even for just a moment memorys of my youth

Sorry, Professor, but I couldn't top that performance of yours.

Yeah Lasermike, we could get those two old ladies from Bloomfield to go protest whoever we want to target..lol

The core of the problem, I think, is lousy cell phones.

People are so used to having raise their voice to be understood over the telephone, that they speak unnecessarily loud, whether their phone is decent or not. I think everyone used normal speaking voices on their cellphones, and silenced obnoxious ringers, I don't think cell phone use would be so frustrating. I doubt most people mind if the people in the seat in front of them on the bus are having a quiet conversation amongst themselves.

For the most part, if people would just keep the volume and the ringtones under control, there's no reason why cellphone etiquette need be any more complicated than conversation etiquette. If you are on a date or in a business meeting, you don't interrupt what you're doing to have a lengthy conversation with some unrelated person. And quietly talking on a bus or in a store is ok, but loudly talking is not.

I'm going to try Larry David's approach...if that doesn't work then I'll consider the 'The GT2000Q High Power Worldwide Cell Phone Jammer Covering 3G
40-Watt High Power Worldwide Cell Phone Jammer'

Appletony, you are one sad individual. Sitting fooling around with your phone is certainly telling your family you rather be somewhere else. For their sakes you should stay home or lock yourself in your office or bathroom or something. Maybe you should live by yourself. I mean who needs a family when you have a Blackberry?

old curmudgeon, why be so rude to me? Who are you to judge me?? This isn't a disagreement about public policy or some newsworthy item -- you've chosen to make this personal. You don't know me or the state of my family. I make every effort to be there and, for the kind of job I have, succeed more than most of my peers at actually getting real, quality family time. Part of how I do it is by leveraging technology. I don't sit there "fooling around" with my phone. I started in my job before email was a prevalent means of communication. Back then, to cover my job, I had to be either at my desk or constantly stepping away to check my voicemail. I am in a service business -- if clients don't feel well-served, I don't get future business. It was pretty dismal to face, like any active parent, missing out on family time in order to earn a paycheck. The blackberry lets me take a little time to handle things in order to provide well for my family.

Maybe you should live by yourself. I mean who needs a family when you have a Blackberry? Maybe you should buzz off.

I think kaglan's got a point. The fact is that cell phone companies do not provide enough bandwidth for their callers. This is, of course, all in the name of profit.

More bandwidth per subscriber = a higher quality transmission. Consequently, less shouting.

But we all know what's important in America: the profits of cell phone companies. Never mind that it has led to chaos in public space, what with jammer vigilantes seeking to protect themselves.

It all started with the leaf blower, I say.

Cher

appletony. Please forgive my harshness. This is a lesson to me to preview before posting. I'll try being less of a curmudgeon in future.

thank you, old curmudgeon! For the record (and probably addressing the underlying feeling that prompted your post), I definitely agree with the general premise that parents and spouses should be careful to be attentive to their kids and each other in spite of modern-day distractions -- it's not at all curmudgeonly to want family togetherness. I think we just hit a bump where the abstract idea hit a reality of which I am very much an example (the blackberrying dad).

For seeing my kids get awards, movies, weddings, "down time" and other such things, I shut it off or leave it behind...