Cell phones, texting, manners! Oh my!

[jawjateck]

Not long ago, I told a hired companion that his excessive phone use demonstrates an inability to relax, to enjoy life, and to enjoy the people around him.

[Lookin]

http://stockfresh.com/files/p/pekour/m/26/1930587_stock-photo-little-boy-riding-bike-on-country-road-outdoors.jpg

 

When I was a kid and wanted to talk to a friend, I walked or rode my bike to his or her house and knocked on the door. In high school, I got an extension phone in my room and thought I hit the big time. A couple years ago, on a lark, I Skyped a friend in Germany and had a color video call with a nearly unnoticable lag time. And perhaps I'll live long enough to call my friend in Germany and conference in a Syrian rebel fighter, complete with translation software, and maybe the aroma of hasenpfeffer bubbling on the stove and a joss stick burning in the background.

 

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All this to say, I think we're smack dab in the midst of a communications revolution unlike any our species has ever seen. And, until we've had a few years of universal, high-bandwidth focused communication, I'd be amazed if all the rules of etiquette were in place and everyone aware of what's polite and what's not.

 

What I can do is try to hang out mostly with folks who enjoy focused communication as I do and hope for the best. But if I want to broaden my social circle even a little bit, especially intergenerationally, which I do, I figure I'm going to have to tolerate some lapses in manners that would have given earlier generations a major dose of the pip. http://www.boytoy.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif

 

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[Frankly Rich]

It turns out the problem is not about "manners", but about someone having issues with those using Facebook and Twitter.

 

One has to wonder whether your dinner companion found you interesting enough and why all his attention was focused on the smartphone?

 

I cannot imagine sitting in front of someone who is constantly glued on his cell phone without making an indirect remark or saying something if the person doesn't get the hint. In my opinion you have to blame yourself for sitting there passively and even further aggravating your case by accepting to join him at the movies. Talk about being a masochist.[/color]

 

Not a response I would have expected. I think you have to twist the facts to come up with it, so one wonders why. I know that you wouldn't be glued to a phone during a client appointment, so what goes?

[+ azdr0710]

I'm certainly OK with Steven's post #20.....it's a possible explanation....see my post #22 here....two (or is it three??!!) sides to every story

[Lookin]

I cannot imagine sitting in front of someone who is constantly glued on his cell phone without making an indirect remark or saying something if the person doesn't get the hint.

 

 

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All right! Jesus Christ, I'll put away the phone!

[BSR]

do you think this guy thought he was just hanging out with you and not really on a full-fledged date?....otherwise, maybe he would've been more attentive???.....

Whether I'm out with a friend or on a date, I would never ignore my dinner companion in the way the OP described. The OP's companion behaved in a way unworthy of a teenager. Even the teenagers in my family, as addicted to their phones as they are, would never behave like that.

[+ FreshFluff]

Azdr, I know what you mean about just hanging out with someone while you each do separate things. But that's usually done a good friend or a boyfriend, not with a stranger as was the case here.