Cell Phones Are a Public Nuisance!
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Cell Phones Are the Biggest Pest Since the Mosquito!
Personally, I wish cell phones had never been invented. The modern world has long been barraged by noise pollution, but as far as I'm concerned, the pesky cell phone is the straw that broke the camel's back. Because of the cell phone (or should I say cell phone users), it's becoming increasingly difficult to preserve one's sanity. Everywhere I go, I find myself one step closer to being committed as I encounter babbling idiots and pesky ringtones--even in the john, for god's sake! As Andy Griffith once said, "You beat everything Barney, you know that?"
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Case in Point
I have worked in retail for twenty-five years. Oh, how I pine for the good ol' days when cell phones were nowhere to be seen. But, alas, those days will never--ever--come again.
Working for a retail giant for a quarter of a century has finally reduced me to this--loudly ranting and raving about public cell phone use to whoever will listen!
The last straw happened just a few days ago. As a cashier, I had almost completed checking out a woman, when suddenly she stopped to answer her ringing cell phone. I attempted to give her the total, so she could pay and remove her carcass, but, alas, she was out in left field somewhere, totally oblivious to her surroundings. In the meantime, my line of shoppers awaiting checkout was steadily growing. I finally shouted the total at her, hoping she would hear. She briefly looked up, looked away, then resumed her conversation.
Shouting even louder, I repeated her total. She pulled out a debit card, stopped, looked away, then resumed her conversation. Gritting my teeth, I gently slid the debit card from her hand and swiped it. Now, the register was requesting her pin number. In the meantime, two more people joined the checkout line, for a total count of eight. I waved the debit card in her face, hoping she would at least attempt to read my lips as I asked for her pin number. Mercifully, the conversation ended before the irate woman behind her dented her derriere with a shopping cart.
Cell Phone Shenanigans
Here Just a Few Cell Phone Faux Pas I Have Witnessed:
- One day, while walking toward my car in the parking lot of the store I work in, I heard ear-piercing screams. Thinking the worst, I looked to see what the trouble was. Standing beside her SUV was a young woman, conducting a violent argument with her ex over child support. The woman alternated between hollering and breaking into ear-piercing screams while frantically waving her arms. I felt so sorry for the poor baby in the car seat, who was screaming, too.
- While working my job in retail, I was mixing paint for a customer, when I heard someone shouting. I looked around to see who the culprit was. It was an enraged woman--practically frothing at the mouth--taking long strides while clutching a cell phone to her ear, cussing out the party on the other end. She had no qualms about using the "F" word, repeatedly spewing out the four-letter-word for all to hear.
- One day, after working hard at our jobs all week, my husband & I decided to relax with a pleasant evening out, so we went to a nice restaurant--FORGET THAT IDEA! The next thing you know, a young man two tables down begins conducting a loud cell phone argument with his mother. He proceeds to cuss her out, and hangs up the phone. "Good! Now we can eat in peace!" I thought.--WRONG! The man's mother calls him back, and it starts all over again!
- Several times, while utilizing the public restroom at work, I have encountered women answering their cell phones while doing their business. The person on the other end would have to be deaf not to hear their "blatant indiscretion."
- While working my former job in the pet department of a department store, I once had a man interrupt me while I stocked, requesting that I catch some tropical fish for him. It was a very busy day, and I had a ton of work to do. While I stood there waiting to see what kind of fish he wanted, he proceeded to put me on hold while he answered his cell phone. The man got into a heated argument with the other party (apparently his ex) over visitation rights and child support. After ten minutes of waiting, I threw up my hands and walked off.
Cell Phone Bra-Talker Takes the Cake!
One day, while working my usual job running a cash register, I noticed a young girl on the register to the left of me moving her mouth and talking down into her cleavage. "What a weird girl!," I thought. It was a very slow day, and there wasn't anyone around at the time, so I wondered what was up.Later on, while passing by her to take some items to the service desk, I heard her voice (still with no one around), then I heard a masculine voice reply to her--and it was coming out of her bra!
That's right, folks--she had her cell phone, which was set on speaker phone, down in her bra so she could secretly talk to her boyfriend while working! Talk about cell phone addiction!
Woman's Dog Almost Becomes Road Kill While She Gabs on Cell Phone
While driving home from work the other day, I saw a woman on a cell phone walking along the side of the road, involved in an apparently "fascinating" conversation while her dog trotted along beside her.I had a feeling that the dog might come toward the road, so I slowed down. My intuition was right: the dog began coming across the road, so I quickly hit the brakes. I sat there in my car with this dog plopped down in front of me--I had a long day at work, and I wanted to go home!--apparently the dog had other ideas. I honked my horn several times to get rid of the mangy mongrel, who trotted back to its owner, and, hopefully, out of harm's way.
The dog's owner was so hypnotized in conversation, that she never once looked away, even when I honked. She will never know just how close her dog came to being road kill (Lucky for her that I wasn't distracted by my cell phone!). Just another example of the danger of cell phone distraction!
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Are Cell Phones a Public Nuisance?
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KandDMarketing says:
I've finally decided that my cell phone needs to take up permanent residence at the bottom of my pond. Call me on my business line or call me on my house line. If I don't answer either of them, I'm outside, busy or both. On top of that, I never, ever could understand how people carry on a conversation with their thumbs ...
GabStar says:
yes to many people misuse them
Miran74 says:
You realise that when you leave your cell phone at home for a whole day and go arround watching other people :)
ronberry says:
I say amen to that. While I agree they can be a great asset in an emergency, like anything else, inconsiderate people abuse and misuse these devices. They are a public hazard when used behind the wheel.
nabil says:
they are a public nuisance!
LEKHANA says:
yes.
Rafick says:
Definitely. In some countries it's not that bad (e.g. New Zealand) but in developing countries (e.g. India) I can't stand it. I consider the cellphone the worst invention man has made, after the nuclear bomb. Rafick
tvyps says:
Absolutely - Not only are they a nuisance, they have turned the younger generations "X" and "Millenians" into mutants lacking social graces. If you think FB or Twitter is social, it is much different than saying "thank you" in the check out line at the grocery or using any kind of social pleasantries that I was raised to use. It is scary to see all of the politeness and social etiquette going out the door because people can't get their face off of a cell phone. We used to have a phone and later an answering machine. If it was someone trying to get in touch with you, you could get the message when you got home. Now, it has become such a necessity to some, it is pathetic.
gottaloveit says:
I long for the days when I was unreachable. I'm with you all the way. My cell phone is necessary as I have a 94 year old mother but I still hate it (the phone, not my mother...).
poddys says:
Definitely they are if they are not used sensibly. I have a section about cell phone on my pet peeves lens.
poutine says:
Yes they are a TOTAL nuisance... I hate them when used in public places.
Rory says:
absolutely I agree. I remember back before cell phones when someone ....:::::buzzzz:::::.....:::::buzzz::::.... Opps excuse me, I have to take this call!
KimGiancaterino says:
It's the endless text messaging I don't get. People think it's perfectly acceptable to do it in restaurants. I was just at a memorial service and the Pastor had to make the "please turn off your cell phones" announcement. Pretty sad.
ChrisDay says:
YES!
mujahid alam says:
no, it really depends on an individual that how he uses it.
if u use it properly its a blessing but missuse can become a nuisance leading to wastage of time & money.
ajgodinho says:
Well, I think it the way people use their cell phones is a nuisance. It's like proper manners or etiquette. This world is becoming too fast-paced and people are having a tough time catching up.
WickedlyWired says:
that customer was inconsiderate as hell! I mean, REALLY? Unbelievable! great lens, and so true! All of it! :)
Dennis Finley says:
cell phones are like passifiers for grown ups
Blonde_Blythe says:
I wish cell phones had never been invented!
No way, Monkeybrain!
Hyper_random says:
yes and no
depends which way you see it
JoanneOtt says:
Some people can be really irresponsible, but I wouldn't want to be without them.
OmegaWolf747 says:
I agree the technology can be abused. However, the key to better sanity is not to rid ourselves of the technology, but to teach polite, responsible use, starting in childhood and modeling it ourselves.
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In my job as a cashier, I meet and converse with lots of people. Just recently, a customer told me she had just gotten a job at McDonald's, but she was already thinking about quitting. When I asked her why, she said that all the cooks, and even the supervisor, are using cell phones while preparing and cooking food, and they expect her (the newbie) to cover their butts by taking up the slack.Can you imagine? When preparing and cooking food, one's hands should be clean; these people are handling germy cell phones then touching our food!
TheKansasCityChannel.com, a subsidiary of ABC, recently reported some alarming findings: "tens of thousands of bacteria live on each square inch of a phone, including Staphylococcus aureus (Staph), which can cause pimples or boils, and even pneumonia and meningitis."
Hard to believe, but cell phone handsets are more contaminated than toilets!
EWWWWWW!!!!
Read the Rest of the Story Here
Cell Phone Addict Loses Her Job Over Non-Stop Cell Phone Use
Because of my job at the time, I had the "pleasure" of seeing this woman almost every day in the stockroom, and also out on the floor by the greeting card racks. While in the stockroom, instead of dealing with her vast inventory of cards, the woman would walk around in circles while talking on the phone and gesturing, as if the person listening on the other end could see her. Rarely would I see her perform any small inkling of her job, and when she did, it consisted of briefly looking inside a box, only to stop so she could resume her much more important mission of walking, talking, and flirting.
While "working" out on the sales floor, the woman continued to talk on the cell phone when she should have been stocking new cards on the shelves, removing old ones, and setting up holiday displays.
It didn't take the greeting card company long to realize that no work was getting accomplished, so they cut the cell phone addict vendor's hours back to a ridiculous schedule (something like two or three hours a week) so she would get fed up and quit. Then they gave the part-time vendor (who did a very good job, by the way) the cell phone addict vendor's schedule. The cell-phone addict vendor predictably quit, and the former part-time vendor has been doing a great job ever since--and never once have I seen her with a cell phone while working.
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