From The Past: March 4, 2004

This is a subject that I believe is skipped over far too often: phone etiquette. The things that people will do while they are on the phone actually amazes me. I think cordless phones are a wonderful invention however, I do not believe they should travel with you into the bathroom. I have been in mid-sentence with someone and heard them relieve themselves while we were talking! Another devastating thing to hear is the toilet flush. Do I really need to be picturing these people on the toilet in my head? Mmmm, I don’t think so.

Another predicament: People who eat while on the phone. This one really agitates me. Why in the world would you put a whole slice of meat in your mouth and then pick up the phone and call me? Do I really need to hear you smacking like that? It’s enough to make a person sick.

And how about the screamers? You know the ones who scream at their kids or whoever is around while they’re on the phone with you. They tell you to, “Wait just a minute” and then they put the phone down and let loose. It’s hard to know what to say after that.

What about the “talk to everyone” people? I am guilty of this myself and need to work on it. These are the people who not only talk to the person on the phone, but also carry on a conversation with the person sitting in front of them (be it kids, husband, friend, etc.). It’s hard to ignore your child when they are asking you something while you are on the phone and it sometimes cannot be avoided, but 99% of the time, whatever they want can wait. It’s strange, but my 14 (almost 15) year old is the worst about this. It’s not only the phone though. I can be mid-sentence with someone and he’ll walk in the room and just start talking or asking me a question. It never occurs to him to wait a second, but I think all kids are like that at some point.

Then there are the Talk-on-the-Phone/TV Watchers. You can be discussing something and they’ll say, “Hold on a second” and you know they are watching TV!!! Call me back, tell me you’re busy, but don’t make me hang on while you’re watching TV!

And last, but not least, are the people who just can’t seem to let you go. You say to them, “Okay, I need to go now” or “Okay, I’m getting off of here now” and they keep talking. When someone tells you they have to go, that’s exactly what they mean or maybe they’re just tired of talking.

Currently (2020): We haven’t had a landline in many years, but clearly that is what I was referring to back in 2004. All of the examples of bad phone etiquette actually happened on almost a weekly basis and I recall the people that I was talking about.

The only thing I deal with these days that would probably be considered bad phone etiquette takes place while they are driving. Any time someone is driving and talking to me at the same time (hands-free), they almost always end up cursing and screaming at other drivers. Everyone commutes these days, so there is plenty of opportunity for the screaming and name-calling of fellow drivers, that’s for sure.