Cell Phone Etiquite .... The Convenience Of Mobile Communication Doesn't Mean We Should Be Rude

Some people go nuts that I can ignore my cellphone, or not take it with me when I leave the house when I'm in the mood to do so.

My feeling is .... "It's my phone. Years ago these things didn't always exist. I don't always have to be accessible!"

Cell phones, pagers and the like can become electronic tethers. I decline to be tethered.

If I am expecting a call, and the display tells me it is the call I'm expecting, I will excuse myself and answer the call.

In all other cases, I let it go to voice mail. It is amazing how many "missed" calls never leave a message!

It is, indeed, rude to interrupt a face-to-face conversation to take a casual call, especially when you have voice mail.

There are few things that have made modern society RUDER then the Cell Phone.

I'm not a very smart person. I can only hold one conversation at a time anymore ( a far cry from my Navy days, where we had multiple Comms devices all going at the same time). When I pick up my phone, while talking to you face to face, the message I am telling you is "You are not important to me, I'd rather take my odds with whomever is on the phone".

When I'm at work, depending on what I'm doing (and who is calling), if we are in conversation, I WILL pick up the phone and kill the ringer. I can only deal with one client at a time, and when you get me, I'm yours. If, we are involved in 'Non-work Related" conversation, then a Work Call (during work hours) is likely to END our conversation to go back to work.

Personal Calls NEVER get picked up while I'm working with a Client.

Also .... I've found a whole new realm of rudeness in society. I'm REALLY not interested in your surgery, you relationships with your significant others, or what you are having for dinner (conversations that I get to hear because someone is speaking LOUDLY next to me). I can only assume that YOU do not wish to know my business, so I attempt to not bother you with it.

I normally HAVE my cell phone with me, but I don't always hear the ringer, sometimes it doesn't ring, and sometimes I can't pick up, that's ok, if it's important, Leave a Message at the sound of the Beep and I'll get back to you soon.

My approach is this. I am the master of the phone .... not the opposite.