Dear Dr. Nello:When you’re having dinner with someone, is it okay to answer your cell phone? And is it rude to leave your phone on the table?
-- Always Connected
Dear Always Connected:
I don't consider it rude to answer the phone during dinner ... you'd probably do the same thing if a call came through on a landline. It's actually rude to the person calling you if you DON'T answer. Your dinner guests will still be there when the call is done; the caller, however, will not be there if you ignore them.
Consider if you were at a restaurant with someone and a friend walked by and said hello. Would you ignore them? No, you'd acknowledge their presence, and you should treat the cell phone caller with the same respect.
If you feel that answering the phone tells your dinner guest they're unimportant to you, put the phone on speaker and have a conference call. Friends walking by in the restaurant can feel free to join in as well.
As for leaving your phone on the table, it depends on what kind of phone you have and if you plan to do secret texting. If you have a really way cool phone like my RAZR, which is super awesome, it makes a great conversation piece because of it's neato features. However, if you want to do under-the-table texting (which, for those born before 1975, means writing telegrams with your portaphone via instant "E" mailing), it's best to keep the phone on your lap.
-- Dr. N
6 comments:
I completely agree with the doctor.
That's a typical response from someone in Generation Me who has no self-discipline. We are not obligated to immediately reply to everyone who contacts us via technology. Doing so can be not only rude and disruptive to the people that we are with, but also taking you away from the task at hand that God (gasp! she mentioned God again! how dare she exhort us to holiness!) might be calling you to do.
Like replying with a rant to an annoying comment someone made on a blog when you should be doing laundry.
Have you ever been on the phone with someone who interrupts you 25 times to take other calls? Have you ever waited forever for someone who wouldn't get off the phone, thereby making you late to an important engagement? Have you ever been to Boston in the Fall?
If you have, you know what I'm talking about. Especially about Boston.
Patience, self-discipline, seeking the will of God for every moment of your life. Learn those things, or go to h-e-double hockey sticks.
With me, most likely, because I still haven't done the laundry.
It's hard for me to weigh in on the cell phone debate since mine has been spirited to Ohio, and my alter ego razor phone has been confiscated by someone over 6'2".
Mike,
I *missed* your call because the music is blaring, the children are screaming and we're taking the Christmas tree down with a chain saw.
I think I read this whole post. I got all the way down to the signature. Was there more to offend me?
Sorry, I've got that "Generation Me" book in my head, and everyone under 35 is in trouble, no matter what they say. I know you're really a nice guy under all that technology.
You can only say Michael is a nice guy if you haven't lived with him in years, the rest of us know the truth.
The above comment was suppossed to be listed under another name. I swear that Michael's Mom would never have made the accusation.
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