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Cell phone usage in public restrooms
Jun. 18th, 2009 10:29 pmReally? Is your phone call honestly *that* important? Is your time truly *that* limited that you cannot wait 2 minutes to NOT make or take that call in a public restroom? Because it's rude. Not just impolite, but outright rude. Rude to the person on the other end of the call, and rude to everyone else in the restroom at the time. Have we, as a society, become too self-absorbed, so arrogantly self-centered that people have become so oblivious to the rudeness that this has to be pointed out? Has our culture really dropped any pretense of having any sort of social decorum? Has the need for constantly expressive individualism become so pervasive and so overwhelming that there can be no expectations for privacy for anyone, anywhere, at any time, for any reason?
And just as important, where is this sort of behavior going to end? Where is the line? Is the concept of "the line" even valid anymore? I'm not advocating censorship-via-etiquette ala the 1950's and earlier, where certain topics were never publicly admitted to exist, let alone ever discussed; simply some consideration for others, some recognition that certain things or times or places are considered at least less-public, if not actually private or worthy of granting some amount of privacy. And certainly some awareness of when your life is needlessly and disrespectfully running over the lives of others would be a nice replacement for the in-your-face rudeness which some people seem to wield as if were a physical extension of their being. It's that sort of attitude that, for some, precede them into a room like an overdose of bad perfume, and linger after they've left as a tangible reminder that everyone's life was just interrupted by someone else's technology-driven need for continuous gratification.
And just as important, where is this sort of behavior going to end? Where is the line? Is the concept of "the line" even valid anymore? I'm not advocating censorship-via-etiquette ala the 1950's and earlier, where certain topics were never publicly admitted to exist, let alone ever discussed; simply some consideration for others, some recognition that certain things or times or places are considered at least less-public, if not actually private or worthy of granting some amount of privacy. And certainly some awareness of when your life is needlessly and disrespectfully running over the lives of others would be a nice replacement for the in-your-face rudeness which some people seem to wield as if were a physical extension of their being. It's that sort of attitude that, for some, precede them into a room like an overdose of bad perfume, and linger after they've left as a tangible reminder that everyone's life was just interrupted by someone else's technology-driven need for continuous gratification.
