The other day reading a news article, I was wondering how times have changed. I guess it was 1992-93 when we had our first BSNL Landline Telephone. Fast forward to 2008 and all four of us in my family have a cell phone plus the old landline. This link shows the astronomical figure of India's cell phone subscribers and they say every month 8 million new users are being added. This is quite a boom for the mobile communications industry and also the health care industry (the later cannot be denied completely)*The above pic was obtained from an image search in Google.
I am getting neither into the economics nor the health problems arising out of the use of mobiles.
I am discussing the etiquettes that are found missing when we(including me) speak on our beloved cell phone.
What I'll do is type in here some of the very common and irritating things we do without paying heed to the people around us.
1. The funky ring tones: This one irritates me a lot. People play all sorts of music here. One day I was traveling through a public transport bus and I was made to believe that I was in a disco with people around me having a wide range of ring tones. Well some ring tones are great and I love to listen such ones (of course who doesn't) but there are a few which will make you go dizzy.
2. The speaking Habit: I don't know why people think the signal reception of their cell phone is always bad. People speak on their cell phones as if they are on an election campaign with all that vigor and intensity. A person may feel he is shouting at one of the passers by. A suggestion for such people please keep your conversation to yourself no one is interested in your gossip.
3. Breaking the rules habit: We, Indians follow just one rule ..... breaking the rules. So why compromise when you have a cell phone. People talk on mobiles while driving(which I think is an offence under RTO) which can be extremely dangerous. People forget (or pretend to forget for whatever reasons) to switch off their mobiles in classrooms, temples, meetings and such other places.
4. The ear piece plugged in: People you are not deaf to keep your ear phones plugged in even when not attending a call. Now with the advent of the bluetooth ear piece (or whatever technical name you have for it) some people feel they are a spy with those pieces plugged in. It can be confusing and irritating as well for the people around as to whom the person is talking to.
I think I'll stop (can't scratch my head for more ......)
The cell phone revolution has been a great boon for us but we have to remember that technology was created for man and it's not vice-versa.
Some blogs on cell phone etiquettes:
Cell Phone Etiquettes for Dummies
Cell Phone Etiquettes
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